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Ender&amp;apos;s Game for Science and Engineering: Games for Real, For Now, or We Lose the Brain War Merrilea J. MayoDirector, GUIRR (Govt-Univ-Ind Research Roundtable)The National Academies

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The U.S. output of new engineers raise concerns over America’s ability to compete over the long run. The U.S. is producing less than a third of the number of engineers as China and less than half the number as Europe. Electrical and electronic engineers represent a third to a half of all engineers hired by the semiconductor industry. In 1993, U.S. universities granted 17,588 BS EE degrees; but only 13,031 in 2002. (Engineering Workforce Commission) The NSF reports that in 39% of engineering masters degrees (in 2000) and 61% of PhD engineering degrees (in 2001) went to foreign students. The NSF also reports that of the 11,500 foreign engineering doctoral recipients from U.S. universities, only 55% had firm plans to stay – i.e. a post doctoral research appointment or firm employment in the U.S. (1998-2001). Electrical engineering is the semiconductor industry’s largest engineer employment category. The Engineering Workforce Commission report that in 2001, 9.7% of Bachelors, 51.5% of Masters, and 59.7% of PhD EE graduates were foreign students. In 1999, Asia alone accounted for more than 49 percent of all science and engineering degrees granted worldwide, Europe 32 percent, and North America 10 percent. In that same year, China produced 195,354 engineers, the United States only 60,914. Fewer U.S. citizens are in a position to pursue engineering degrees due to U.S. K-12 students’ science and math literacy scores being below those in other countries. The Trends in International Math and Science Study Survey (TIMSS) is a comprehensive study comparing science and math achievement for 4th, 8th and 12th grade students in 34 nations. In 1999 TIMSS found that 8th grad students in Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Canada, Australia, Hungary and Finland scored significantly above their U.S. counterparts in both math and science.

The U.S. output of new engineers raise concerns over America’s ability to compete over the long run. The U.S. is producing less than a third of the number of engineers as China and less than half the number as Europe. Electrical and electronic engineers represent a third to a half of all engineers hired by the semiconductor industry. In 1993, U.S. universities granted 17,588 BS EE degrees; but only 13,031 in 2002. (Engineering Workforce Commission) The NSF reports that in 39% of engineering masters degrees (in 2000) and 61% of PhD engineering degrees (in 2001) went to foreign students. The NSF also reports that of the 11,500 foreign engineering doctoral recipients from U.S. universities, only 55% had firm plans to stay – i.e. a post doctoral research appointment or firm employment in the U.S. (1998-2001). Electrical engineering is the semiconductor industry’s largest engineer employment category. The Engineering Workforce Commission report that in 2001, 9.7% of Bachelors, 51.5% of Masters, and 59.7% of PhD EE graduates were foreign students. In 1999, Asia alone accounted for more than 49 percent of all science and engineering degrees granted worldwide, Europe 32 percent, and North America 10 percent. In that same year, China produced 195,354 engineers, the United States only 60,914. Fewer U.S. citizens are in a position to pursue engineering degrees due to U.S. K-12 students’ science and math literacy scores being below those in other countries. The Trends in International Math and Science Study Survey (TIMSS) is a comprehensive study comparing science and math achievement for 4th, 8th and 12th grade students in 34 nations. In 1999 TIMSS found that 8th grad students in Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Canada, Australia, Hungary and Finland scored significantly above their U.S. counterparts in both math and science.

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America No. 1? America by the numbers by Michael Ventura 02/03/05 &amp;quot;ICH&amp;quot; - - No concept lies more firmly embedded in our national character than the notion that the USA is &amp;quot;No. 1,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;the greatest.&amp;quot; Our broadcast media are, in essence, continuous advertisements for the brand name &amp;quot;America Is No. 1.&amp;quot; Any office seeker saying otherwise would be committing political suicide. In fact, anyone saying otherwise will be labeled &amp;quot;un-American.&amp;quot; We&amp;apos;re an &amp;quot;empire,&amp;quot; ain&amp;apos;t we? Sure we are. An empire without a manufacturing base. An empire that must borrow $2 billion a day from its competitors in order to function. Yet the delusion is ineradicable. We&amp;apos;re No. 1. Well...this is the country you really live in: * The United States is 49th in the world in literacy (the New York Times, Dec. 12, 2004). * The United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical literacy (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004). * Twenty percent of Americans think the sun orbits the earth. Seventeen percent believe the earth revolves around the sun once a day (The Week, Jan. 7, 2005). * &amp;quot;The International Adult Literacy Survey...found that Americans with less than nine years of education &amp;apos;score worse than virtually all of the other countries&amp;apos;&amp;quot; (Jeremy Rifkin&amp;apos;s superbly documented book The European Dream: How Europe&amp;apos;s Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, p.78). * Our workers are so ignorant and lack so many basic skills that American businesses spend $30 billion a year on remedial training (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004). No wonder they relocate elsewhere! * &amp;quot;The European Union leads the U.S. in...the number of science and engineering graduates; public research and development (R&amp;D) expenditures; and new capital raised&amp;quot; (The European Dream, p.70). * &amp;quot;Europe surpassed the United States in the mid-1990s as the largest producer of scientific literature&amp;quot; (The European Dream, p.70). * Nevertheless, Congress cut funds to the National Science Foundation. The agency will issue 1,000 fewer research grants this year (NYT, Dec. 21, 2004). * Foreign applications to U.S. grad schools declined 28 percent last year. Foreign student enrollment on all levels fell for the first time in three decades, but increased greatly in Europe and China. Last year Chinese grad-school graduates in the U.S. dropped 56 percent, Indians 51 percent, South Koreans 28 percent (NYT, Dec. 21, 2004). We&amp;apos;re not the place to be anymore. * The World Health Organization &amp;quot;ranked the countries of the world in terms of overall health performance, and the U.S. [was]...37th.&amp;quot; In the fairness of health care, we&amp;apos;re 54th. &amp;quot;The irony is that the United States spends more per capita for health care than any other nation in the world&amp;quot; (The European Dream, pp.79-80). Pay more, get lots, lots less. * &amp;quot;The U.S. and South Africa are the only two developed countries in the world that do not provide health care for all their citizens&amp;quot; (The European Dream, p.80). Excuse me, but since when is South Africa a &amp;quot;developed&amp;quot; country? Anyway, that&amp;apos;s the company we&amp;apos;re keeping. * Lack of health insurance coverage causes 18,000 unnecessary American deaths a year. (That&amp;apos;s six times the number of people killed on 9/11.) (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005.) * &amp;quot;U.S. childhood poverty now ranks 22nd, or second to last, among the developed nations. Only Mexico scores lower&amp;quot; (The European Dream, p.81). Been to Mexico lately? Does it look &amp;quot;developed&amp;quot; to you? Yet it&amp;apos;s the only &amp;quot;developed&amp;quot; country to score lower in childhood poverty. * Twelve million American families--more than 10 percent of all U.S. households--&amp;quot;continue to struggle, and not always successfully, to feed themselves.&amp;quot; Families that &amp;quot;had members who actually went hungry at some point last year&amp;quot; numbered 3.9 million (NYT, Nov. 22, 2004). * The United States is 41st in the world in infant mortality. Cuba scores higher (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005). * Women are 70 percent more likely to die in childbirth in America than in Europe (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005). * The leading cause of death of pregnant women in this country is murder (CNN, Dec. 14, 2004). * &amp;quot;Of the 20 most developed countries in the world, the U.S. was dead last in the growth rate of total compensation to its workforce in the 1980s.... In the 1990s, the U.S. average compensation growth rate grew only slightly, at an annual rate of about 0.1 percent&amp;quot; (The European Dream, p.39). Yet Americans work longer hours per year than any other industrialized country, and get less vacation time. * &amp;quot;Sixty-one of the 140 biggest companies on the Global Fortune 500 rankings are European, while only 50 are U.S. companies&amp;quot; (The European Dream, p.66). &amp;quot;In a recent survey of the world&amp;apos;s 50 best companies, conducted by Global Finance, all but one were European&amp;quot; (The European Dream, p.69). * &amp;quot;Fourteen of the 20 largest commercial banks in the world today are European.... In the chemical industry, the European company BASF is the world&amp;apos;s leader, and three of the top six players are European. In engineering and construction, three of the top five companies are European.... The two others are Japanese. Not a single American engineering and construction company is included among the world&amp;apos;s top nine competitors. In food and consumer products, Nestlé and Unilever, two European giants, rank first and second, respectively, in the world. In the food and drugstore retail trade, two European companies...are first and second, and European companies make up five of the top ten. Only four U.S. companies are on the list&amp;quot; (The European Dream, p.68). * The United States has lost 1.3 million jobs to China in the last decade (CNN, Jan. 12, 2005). * U.S. employers eliminated 1 million jobs in 2004 (The Week, Jan. 14, 2005). * Three million six hundred thousand Americans ran out of unemployment insurance last year; 1.8 million--one in five--unemployed workers are jobless for more than six months (NYT, Jan. 9, 2005). * Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea hold 40 percent of our government debt. (That&amp;apos;s why we talk nice to them.) &amp;quot;By helping keep mortgage rates from rising, China has come to play an enormous and little-noticed role in sustaining the American housing boom&amp;quot; (NYT, Dec. 4, 2004). Read that twice. We owe our housing boom to China, because they want us to keep buying all that stuff they manufacture. * Sometime in the next 10 years Brazil will probably pass the U.S. as the world&amp;apos;s largest agricultural producer. Brazil is now the world&amp;apos;s largest exporter of chickens, orange juice, sugar, coffee, and tobacco. Last year, Brazil passed the U.S. as the world&amp;apos;s largest beef producer. (Hear that, you poor deluded cowboys?) As a result, while we bear record trade deficits, Brazil boasts a $30 billion trade surplus (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004). * As of last June, the U.S. imported more food than it exported (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004). * Bush: 62,027,582 votes. Kerry: 59,026,003 votes. Number of eligible voters who didn&amp;apos;t show up: 79,279,000 (NYT, Dec. 26, 2004). That&amp;apos;s more than a third. Way more. If more than a third of Iraqis don&amp;apos;t show for their election, no country in the world will think that election legitimate. * One-third of all U.S. children are born out of wedlock. One-half of all U.S. children will live in a one-parent house (CNN, Dec. 10, 2004). * &amp;quot;Americans are now spending more money on gambling than on movies, videos, DVDs, music, and books combined&amp;quot; (The European Dream, p.28). * &amp;quot;Nearly one out of four Americans [believe] that using violence to get what they want is acceptable&amp;quot; (The European Dream, p.32). * Forty-three percent of Americans think torture is sometimes justified, according to a PEW Poll (Associated Press, Aug. 19, 2004). * &amp;quot;Nearly 900,000 children were abused or neglected in 2002, the last year for which such data are available&amp;quot; (USA Today, Dec. 21, 2004). * &amp;quot;The International Association of Chiefs of Police said that cuts by the [Bush] administration in federal aid to local police agencies have left the nation more vulnerable than ever&amp;quot; (USA Today, Nov. 17, 2004). No. 1? In most important categories we&amp;apos;re not even in the Top 10 anymore. Not even close. The USA is &amp;quot;No. 1&amp;quot; in nothing but weaponry, consumer spending, debt, and delusion. Reprinted from the Austin Chronicle. www.citypages.com/databank/26/1264/article12985.asp

EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M., EST, MARCH 18, 2004 (THURSDAY) Mike BergmanCB04-44Public Information Office (301) 763-3030/457-3670 (fax)Summary tables(301) 457-1037 (TDD) e-mail: [email_address] More Diversity, Slower Growth Census Bureau Projects Tripling of Hispanic andAsian Populations in 50 Years; Non-Hispanic WhitesMay Drop To Half of Total Population The nation’s Hispanic and Asian populations would triple over the next half century and non-Hispanic whites would represent about one-half of the total population by 2050, according to interim population projections released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Overall, the country’s population would continue to grow, increasing from 282.1 million in 2000 to 419.9 million in 2050. However, after 2030 the rate of increase might be the slowest since the Great Depression of the 1930s as the size of the “baby boom” population continues to decline. Still, the nation’s projected 49 percent population increase during the next 50 years would be in sharp contrast to most European countries, whose populations are expected to decline by mid-century. (Statements on race groups in this news release are limited to the single-race white, black, and Asian populations and do not cover other single-race groups or the population of two or more races.) The federal government treats Hispanic origin and race as distinct concepts. (See U.S. Census Bureau Guidance on the Presentation and Comparison of Race and Hispanic Origin Data.) From 2000 to 2050, the non-Hispanic, white population would increase from 195.7 million to 210.3 million, an increase of 14.6 million or 7 percent. This group is projected to actually lose population in the 2040s and would comprise just 50.1 percent of the total population in 2050, compared with 69.4 percent in 2000. (See Table 1 [Excel].) Nearly 67 million people of Hispanic origin (who may be of any race) would be added to the nation’s population between 2000 and 2050. Their numbers are projected to grow from 35.6 million to 102.6 million, an increase of 188 percent. Their share of the nation’s population would nearly double, from 12.6 percent to 24.4 percent. The Asian population is projected to grow 213 percent, from 10.7 million to 33.4 million. Their share of the nation’s population would double, from 3.8 percent to 8 percent. The black population is projected to rise from 35.8 million to 61.4 million in 2050, an increase of about 26 million or 71 percent. That would raise their share of the country’s population from 12.7 percent to 14.6 percent. The country’s population also is expected to become older. Childbearing rates are expected to remain low while baby-boomers — people born between 1946 and 1964 — begin to turn 65 in 2011. By 2030, about 1-in-5 people would be 65 or over. The female population is projected to continue to outnumber the male population, going from a numerical difference of 5.3 million in 2000 (143.7 million females and 138.4 million males) to 6.9 million (213.4 million females and 206.5 million males) by mid-century. (See Table 2 [Excel].) The projections for the resident population of the United States are by age, sex, race (including the categories white, black, Asian and “all other races”) and Hispanic origin. They are based on Census 2000 results and assumptions about future childbearing, mortality and international migration.

Ender&amp;apos;s Game for Science and Engineering: Games for Real, For Now, or We Lose the Brain War Merrilea J. MayoDirector, GUIRR (Govt-Univ-Ind Research Roundtable)The National Academies

Every 10 years?

Cooper first cellular mobile phone in 1973 In simple terms, Moore’s Law states that the number of transistors that can be packed on an integrated electronic circuit doubles approximately every 2 years (ftp://download.intel.com/research/silicon/moorespaper.pdf ) enabling a size: price: performance ratio of smaller, cheaper and more powerful micro electronics. Law of Disruption states that “social, political, and economic systems change incrementally, but technology changes exponentially Metcalfe’s Law Value of a network increases proportionally with the square of the number of connections

The goal of the Smart Dust project is to build a self-contained, millimeter-scale sensing and communication platform for a massively distributed sensor network. This device will be around the size of a grain of sand and will contain sensors, computational ability, bi-directional wireless communications, and a power supply, while being inexpensive enough to deploy by the hundreds. The science and engineering goal of the project is to build a complete, complex system in a tiny volume using state-of-the art technologies (as opposed to futuristic technologies), which will require evolutionary and revolutionary advances in integration, miniaturization, and energy management. We forsee many applications for this technology: Weather/seismological monitoring on Mars Internal spacecraft monitoring Land/space comm. networks Chemical/biological sensors Weapons stockpile monitoring Defense-related sensor networks Inventory Control Product quality monitoring Smart office spaces Sports - sailing, balls For more information, see the main Smart Dust page at http://robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu/~pister/SmartDust and read our publications (see navigation button above). Brief description of the operation of the mote: The Smart Dust mote is run by a microcontroller that not only determines the tasks performed by the mote, but controls power to the various components of the system to conserve energy. Periodically the microcontroller gets a reading from one of the sensors, which measure one of a number of physical or chemical stimuli such as temperature, ambient light, vibration, acceleration, or air pressure, processes the data, and stores it in memory. It also occasionally turns on the optical receiver to see if anyone is trying to communicate with it. This communication may include new programs or messages from other motes. In response to a message or upon its own initiative the microcontroller will use the corner cube retroreflector or laser to transmit sensor data or a message to a base station or another mote. Longer description of the operation of the mote: The primary constraint in the design of the Smart Dust motes is volume, which in turn puts a severe constraint on energy since we do not have much room for batteries or large solar cells. Thus, the motes must operate efficiently and conserve energy whenever possible. Most of the time, the majority of the mote is powered off with only a clock and a few timers running. When a timer expires, it powers up a part of the mote to carry out a job, then powers off. A few of the timers control the sensors that measure one of a number of physical or chemical stimuli such as temperature, ambient light, vibration, acceleration, or air pressure. When one of these timers expires, it powers up the corresponding sensor, takes a sample, and converts it to a digital word. If the data is interesting, it may either be stored directly in the SRAM or the microcontroller is powered up to perform more complex operations with it. When this task is complete, everything is again powered down and the timer begins counting again. Another timer controls the receiver. When that timer expires, the receiver powers up and looks for an incoming packet. If it doesn&amp;apos;t see one after a certain length of time, it is powered down again. The mote can receive several types of packets, including ones that are new program code that is stored in the program memory. This allows the user to change the behavior of the mote remotely. Packets may also include messages from the base station or other motes. When one of these is received, the microcontroller is powered up and used to interpret the contents of the message. The message may tell the mote to do something in particular, or it may be a message that is just being passed from one mote to another on its way to a particular destination. In response to a message or to another timer expiring, the microcontroller will assemble a packet containing sensor data or a message and transmit it using either the corner cube retroreflector or the laser diode, depending on which it has. The corner cube retroreflector transmits information just by moving a mirror and thus changing the reflection of a laser beam from the base station. This technique is substantially more energy efficient than actually generating some radiation. With the laser diode and a set of beam scanning mirrors, we can transmit data in any direction desired, allowing the mote to communicate with other Smart Dust motes.

http://www.robotdirectory.org/pics/cakemonster/Nano-Scoop3.jpg

Rice and U of Susses (Kroto)

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Provide small communities Novel way to use learning games Special – business relationship between Breakaway and DOJ Distribute to 30,000 agencies in Feb National Incident Command Sys NICS Training

Free video game teaches kids about world hungerBY JINNY GUDMUNDSEN GANNETT NEWS SERVICE Live 8, the global concerts earlier this month to fight poverty in Africa, greatly increased awareness of world hunger. But most kids don&amp;apos;t understand how international aid organizations work to help starving people. That&amp;apos;s where a video game can help. &amp;quot;Food Force&amp;quot; gives kids between the ages of 8 and 13 a better understanding of how relief organizations operate. Produced by the United Nations&amp;apos; World Food Programme, &amp;quot;Food Force&amp;quot; is a free Internet download at www.food-force.com. Kids join a team of emergency aid workers to save the fictitious island of Sheylan from starvation caused by drought and civil war. The team goes on six missions to help save the island. Each mission starts with a briefing by one of the emergency aid characters. Kids then play a hands-on game to score enough points to complete the mission. For example, in the first mission, kids pilot a helicopter by using the computer mouse. Time is limited, and youngsters earn points by locating refugees. After piloting, the Food Force character returns to evaluate the kids&amp;apos; performance and uses an accompanying video that shows the program in action to make the whole process seem realistic. The additional missions cleverly use games to demonstrate how emergency aid teams acquire food, make food packs, deliver food and establish long-term food supplies. When kids complete all six missions, they can upload their cumulative score to an international database found on the Food Force Web site. The Web site also provides information about how kids can help fight hunger, and it allows them to explore more about the World Food Programme. Teachers also will find lesson plans that incorporate the game. The program effectively reaches &amp;apos;tweens and teens with 3-D graphics and characters that resemble those in popular commercial titles, helping bring closer to home the problems of world hunger, which are most often thousands of miles away. The game is best for ages 8 to 13. It scores a perfect five stars. For more information, see www.food-force.com, United Nations&amp;apos; World Food Programme, offering free downloadable program for Windows and Macintosh.

Need source

The Invisible Train The Invisible Train is the first real multi-user Augmented Reality application for handheld devices (PDAs). Unlike other projects, in which wearable devices were merely used as thin-clients, while powerful (PC-based) servers performed a majority of the computations (such as graphics rendering), our software runs independently on off-the-shelf PDAs - eliminating the need for an expensive infractructure.

The Invisible Train is a mobile, collaborative multi-user Augmented Reality (AR) game, in which players control virtual trains on a real wooden miniature railroad track. These virtual trains are only visible to players through their PDA&amp;apos;s video see-through display as they don&amp;apos;t exist in the physical world. This type of user interface is commonly called the &amp;quot;magic lens metaphor&amp;quot;. Players can interact with the game environment by operating track switches and adjusting the speed of their virtual trains. The current state of the game is synchronized between all participants via wireless networking. The common goal of the game is to prevent the virtual trains from colliding. The success of the Invisible Train installation illustrates the advantages of our Studierstube software framework, a component-based system architecture that has been designed to accelerate the task of developing and deploying collaborative Augmented Reality applications on handheld devices. Why Handheld Augmented Reality? Augmented Reality (AR) can naturally complement mobile computing on wearable devices by providing an intuitive interface to a three-dimensional information space embedded within physical reality. However, prior work on mobile Augmented Reality has almost exclusively been undertaken with traditional &amp;quot;backpack&amp;quot;-systems that consist of a notebook computer, an HMD, cameras and additional supporting hardware. Although these systems work well within a constrained laboratory environment, they fail to fulfill several usability criteria to be rapidly deployed to inexperienced users, as they are expensive, cumbersome and require high level of expertise. Since the early experiments in Mobile Augmented Reality, a variety of highly portable consumer devices with versatile computing capabilities has emerged. We believe that handheld computers, mobile phones and personal digital assistants have the potential to introduce Augmented Reality to large audiences outside of a constrained laboratory environment. The relative affordability of devices that are capable of running our software framework opens up new possibilities for experimenting with massively multi-user application scenarios - thereby bringing us closer to the goal of &amp;quot;AR anytime, anywhere&amp;quot;.

Korean “Information Society” development date back to the 1980’s, however, Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) use and production in the past has been associated with equipment, rather than knowledge-intensive production and services such as software, biotechnology, new media and information services (Hwang, Hur and Choi, 2004, p.11) (Korea National Computerization Agency, 2004, p.7) (Wong, 2004, p.1). A new phase of public-private partnership including programs such as “Cyber Korea 21”, “e-Korea Vision 2006”, and “Broadband IT KOREA VISION 2007” aims to make Korea the leading exporter of knowledge-intensive production in the world (Korea National Computerization Agency, 2004, p.7) (The Korea Times in Swiss Talents, 2004, p.1). This new phase is marked by a transition to integrating convergent information services into the fabric of society, industry, government and education; pioneering the development of technologies, products, services and knowledge-based exports; and supporting the formation and development of new convergence companies.

&amp;lt;number&amp;gt; The most important thing to understand about Whyville really, is that it’s a place full of kids. It’s a virtual city that belongs to the kids who come from all over the world to have fun. The kids consider this their own town, and they call themselves Whyvillians. To become a Whyvillian, you create a Whyville persona. In this screen, and every other screen you’ve already seen, for example, each face is a Whyville citizen. To become a Whyville citizen, you create a persona, the most important aspect of which is your face. You can see here that the faces are varied and very creative. Here’s an amoeba. Here’s someone driving a car. Here is someone wearing a style known as ‘Goth’. The ungliest citizens you see around are in fact us, the city workers.

&amp;lt;number&amp;gt; McDermott&amp;apos;s Contributions to San Antonio http://www.anbhf.org/laureates/mcdermott.html In a tribute to Robert McDermott recently, Mayor Henry Cisneros of San Antonio stated that &amp;quot;when the economic history of San Antonio in the 1980s is written, the most influential individual will be him (McDermott)&amp;quot; [4]. After his arrival in San Antonio, McDermott was selected as President of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. In this position he initiated the San Antonio Economic Development Council which began a drive to bring business development into San Antonio. When the Hispanic population felt they were not being included, McDermott founded United San Antonio which pulled all the disparate community groups together. In the 1980s he was responsible for getting an undergraduate engineering program at the University of Texas at San Antonio first and later graduate programs in the sciences. With this groundwork laid, he began moving in a formal sense to make San Antonio a biotechnology center for the future. He founded the Texas Research and Technology Foundation, which was established to develop a Texas Research Park. He also helped arrange for the first major gift of $15,000,000 for the park from H. Ross Perot. Today he is regarded as the key influential business leader in San Antonio. In addition to his personal contributions, McDermott believes that USAA should be a corporate good citizen, and it has been so. USAA&amp;apos;s Volunteer Corps gave over 30m000 volunteer hours to San Antonio just last year and USA is the city&amp;apos;s largest private-sector United Way contributor. Although USAA employees constitute only 2% of San Antonio&amp;apos;s work force, they contributed 10% of the total monies collected by United Way. Brigadier General Robert F. McDermott and USAA - Service Plus Ethics Equals Success Dreamers and doers rarely come in the same package. The historical record is replete with figures who seem to have extraordinary vision, but who are unable to make their dreams come into reality. On the other hand, there are many who have been able to execute the ideas of others, but who do not seem to be able to think in broad terms bout the future. Recent historical scholarship placed John F. Kennedy in the first category and Lyndon Baines Johnson in the second. Robert F. McDermott, Chairman and CEO of USAA is one of the rare individuals who have brilliant conceptual ideas an who have been able to put them into operation. The First Career Prior to becoming CEO of USAA, McDermott had already demonstrated these traits while serving on active duty in the Air Force as the first permanent Dean of the newly founded USAF Academy. Upon assuming his position, the new Dean wished to make the Academy a premier undergraduate academic institution, as well as developer of professional military officers and leaders. He wished to attract first-rate applicants chosen without regard to political connections and to challenge them to meet their potential. He introduced sweeping innovations by overcoming opposition from the military establishment, particularly at West Point and Annapolis, political insiders in Washington, and those who wanted no change at all. The changes included introducing over 25 academic majors, setting up cooperative Master&amp;apos;s degree programs with outstanding institutions, building a first class library, faculty and staff, and introducing the &amp;quot;whole man&amp;quot; admission program with little regard to political connections. All this resulted in McDermott getting the Air Force Academy accredited by the North Central Association prior to its first class graduating. This was an unheard of accomplishment. When he retired in 1968, the other military academies were already changing curriculum and procedures to match the newest of the academies. At a ceremony at West Point in 1989, the Superintendent of the US Air Force Academy, Lt. General Charles Hamm, referred to McDermott as the Sylvanus Thayer of the twentieth century, crediting McDermott with bringing all US service academies &amp;quot;into the twentieth century&amp;quot; [6]. USAA - The McDermott Infrastructure With his outstanding reputation as an insurance scholar developed through his teaching and two published books, his solid academic preparation including an MBA from Harvard, and his national reputation as a visionary, organizer, leader and manager, he came to USAA as an Executive Vice President in July of 1968. Over the next six months he would observe all facets of USAA&amp;apos;s operation and begin formulating his visions for the future of USAA. When he assumed the role of President and CEO of USAA on January 1, 1969, the company was in good shape overall. Serving the auto property and casualty insurance needs of active duty officers since 1922, it had a solid reputation and had penetrated 70% of its potential market. It also provided homeowners insurance in some states and had just begun offering a basic life insurance policy. The members (USAA is actually a reciprocal insurance exchange - a member-owned cooperative if you will) were basically happy and contented with their company. On the face of it, it would not seem that a new man could do a great deal better than was already being done, but McDermott had observed much during his six-month orientation. While the small company was doing well and had assets of $200,000,000, it was doing well with increasing difficulty. Although basically solid financially, the Board had accorded the departing President &amp;quot;special recognition&amp;quot; by raising the annual dividend to all the members to a new high. This put the previous president in a rosy glow, but placed USAA in a hazardous cash position. One of McDermott&amp;apos;s first acts was to cancel the &amp;quot;extra&amp;quot; dividend which created immediate unrest among the members, but which was necessary if the company were to get through a temporary financial crisis. It did. In the operating levels of USAA, McDermott noted many problems. The approximately 3,000 employees (over 90% women) did not like the work at all, and the annual turnover rate of 43% made this clear. To initiate a new automobile insurance [policy required 55 different steps at 55 different desks. Some of these simple steps were mind deadening, like pulling staples or unsealing envelops. The operation required moving files up and down seven different floors, and claims and underwriting maintained separate records on each member. At each desk were shelves and bins piled high with records requiring some action or awaiting filing. So confusing was the operation and so many records misplaced that a crew of dozens of college students searched for missing records every night in order to return them to where they were needed. Most employees felt that USAA was a good place to start, but few wanted to remain there and a career was unthinkable. The employees had little education and less loyalty to USAA. It was clear to McDermott that if USAA were to be a truly great company, sweeping changes would have to occur. Gathering with him a small number of those he brought on board and a few incumbents, he held a serious long-range planning meeting at the American Management Association&amp;apos;s Conference Center in Hamilton, New York to set the future course for USAA. At this meeting and, to a lesser extent, those of the next two years, he began to reveal his goals for the future. On the operational side he challenged USAA to become a &amp;quot;paperless&amp;quot; insurance company, which seemed unreachable at the time. He committed USAA fully to use the newest technology to improve the operation and to make employees&amp;apos; jobs more meaningful. As a result, he was certain productivity would rise. He challenged the company to work through a myriad of state regulations and laws to enable USAA to provide automobile and property insurance to all members in all states. As far as employees were concerned, McDermott wanted sweeping changes to orient employees to provide better and more ethical service to the members. He proposed to accomplish this by developing a &amp;quot;corporate culture&amp;quot; that would provide an ethical, and service-oriented foundation that would permeate the entire company. He instituted the USAA Creed which charged members and employees to serve &amp;quot;each other with integrity and dependability&amp;quot; [25]. The goal in handling auto claims would be not to pay as little as possible and still satisfy the member, but to exercise &amp;quot;the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct while transacting claims business&amp;quot; [24]. Providing timely and responsive service with integrity and ethical conduct would build member faith and strengthen USAA for future growth. Training on ethical conduct became a staple in new employee orientation and all training courses. He even sought a new logo to give the company a more solid and a more modern look. McDermott recognized that a corporate culture in itself would not work without building pride among the employees. He challenged USAA to build new employment incentives including pay and other benefits. He pushed the Board of Directors in the direction of building a new facility to house all of USAA to increase efficiency and to give the employees more pride. Perhaps most important of all, he insisted programs be developed to encourage each employee to grow to his or her maximum potential. During McDermott&amp;apos;s first few years, dozens of changes swept over USAA and its employees. The pattern for the larger changes was similar - first the vision, followed by long and short-range plans to accomplish the task. Then specialists, often outside consultants, would help in the development of operational ideas and selection of equipment. At the same time, intelligent, hard-working individuals were placed in charge of the projects and were given latitude to build teams and develop the operation programs. At almost the same juncture, plans were made to train affected employees and to prepare them physically and psychologically for the changes. These efforts tended to bring in innovations more quickly than expected with strong acceptance by the employees themselves. The results were more efficiency, productivity, and pride in a job done better than before. A typical example was the introduction of a computer system designed to produce multi-car policies. Today, all companies issue policies that list all the cars owned by a family. In 1969, each car had its own policy. The administrative work required to produce these policies was labor-intensive and expensive. With the introduction of a multi-car computer software system, all vehicles were listed on one policy. Just this change enabled USAA to increase its productivity enormously, deleting hundreds of manpower spaces in one year. A second benefit of this new system was to spread the auto renewal periods throughout the year. This enabled USAA to level out the workload and make more efficient use of available manpower. Over time, the development of USAA&amp;apos;s gigantic information systems continually increased productivity and enabled it to provide better service to the members. At the present time, USAA has the largest IBM facility in the United States in terms of the numbers of transactions completed daily. The statistical growth is shown in Appendix 1, but does not really show what it means to the company today. Whereas issuing a policy in 1969 took 55 steps and an inordinate amount of time, today one Policy Service employee handles the entire transaction using his or her computer screen and the policy is on its way to the member in three days or less. This effort was highlighted recently in the February 13, 1989 issue of Fortune magazine [1]. Today, McDermott&amp;apos;s earliest visions of leading-edge technology continue to unfold. Still working toward a &amp;quot;paperless&amp;quot; environment, USAA had been working on the development of imaging techniques. After a short experiment with 3M in 1984, McDermott convinced John Akers, CEO of IBM, to work with USAA in development and execution of the image-processing system. Working as partners, USA and IBM computer specialists and engineers were successful. In late 1988, John Akers came to USAA to cut the ribbon and see the new system in operation. Very simply, a document, such as a police report is given the USAA number and entered into the computer system by a process resembling a data fax to the casual observer. Only in this case the document is stored on an optical disk and is ready for recall at any of USAA&amp;apos;s image computer screens in a split second. By the spring of 1989 USAA had all policy service documents on optical disks rendering the millions of pieces of paper expendable. After everything is entered on the optical disks, lost documents and misplaced files will become folklore instead of reality. McDermott&amp;apos;s effort in improving his work force and pushing USAA into leading edge technology have combined into what Ed Yourdon called in the February 1989 issue of American Programmer one of the extremely rare &amp;quot;Exemplary Data Processing Organizations&amp;quot; in the country [26]. He pointed out how much &amp;quot;influence an exemplary CEO can have in the creation and motivation of an exemplary data processing organization.&amp;quot; Improving the Work Force One of McDermott&amp;apos;s earliest visions had been to improve working conditions by developing a new facility able to house all USAA employees under one roof. In 1969 he personally looked over properties. He rejected sites convenient to the city center where most employees lived and selected a site in the undeveloped northwest part of the city. He talked the Board of Directors into authorizing the purchase of 286 acres. He wanted good access for the employees and to build a campus-like setting. He wanted room for growth and did not want others encroaching upon USAA itself or its view. Today, the USAA property sits in the center of the fastest-growing area of the city and the value of the property has escalated like the population of San Antonio. As far as the building itself was concerned, McDermott wanted it to be a place where the employees would be proud and happy to work. He wanted the principal aesthetic costs concentrated on the interior and not the exterior. When completed in 1975, it turned out to be a state-of-the-art building for 1989 and was, and still is, the second largest horizontal office building in the country. All the flooring is &amp;quot;computer flooring&amp;quot; enabling the thousands of miles of computer and telephone wiring to be out of sight and to make internal moves easy and economical. The building has a center spine and on the main floor, three different courtyards where the employees can relax body and mind. Each courtyard has a different theme providing additional aesthetic beauty. The work areas themselves have cubicles including telephones and a computer terminal and are located adjacent to the courtyards for breaks. The building also contains other amenities to increase the comfort of the employees. Included is a company store to purchase sundry items, a ticket counter to purchase discounted tickets to San Antonio attractions, a contract post office, a health clinic, exercise gymnasium and outstanding cafeterias. Getting good employees to come to USAA was only one step. Retention of good employees was the next. To assist in both these tasks, McDermott introduced programs to improve the physical well being and health of the employees and to help them develop to achieve their individual potential as well. Building and maintaining the physical well being of the USAA employees has been a multi-faceted program. In 1972, McDermott convinced the USAA Board of Directors to incorporate a physical fitness center into the new building. The resultant 9,700 square foot center houses lockers, saunas, steam rooms, cardiovascular treadmills and exercise bicycles, a Nordic skier and rowing machines. Two professional exercise physiologists monitor the individual exercise programs. Almost 2,000 employees participate in the center&amp;apos;s programs. Outside the building are 35 acres devoted to fitness activity areas which include five miles of jogging trails winding through the trees, a multi-purpose soccer field, softball fields, basketball and volleyball courts, and tennis courts. All are equipped with lights for evening use. This year almost 3,000 employees participated in various intramural sports leagues. The fitness and athletic program is balanced by a first-class health service staff and program. Its eight registered nurses provide a complete health-oriented program for employees. Among the programs conducted are brown-bag health seminars, free allergy and flue immunizations, on-site mammograms, free diabetes, hypertension and cholesterol testing and an annual Health Fair. The Health Services staff also provides smoking cessation training which was of significant help when McDermott phased in a &amp;quot;no smoking&amp;quot; policy in all USAA buildings. At the present time, smoking is authorized in only a few lounges and a small section of the cafeterias, with the goal to eliminate all smoking by the end of 1990. Free comprehensive physical examinations are provided to employees over 50 years of age. Confidential employee counseling is also provided. In 1980 alone, the counselors served over 3,000 employees. Part of the counseling service also includes information on area childcare facilities. Other wellness incentives include low-priced &amp;quot;Treat Yourself Right&amp;quot; menus in the cafeteria which encourage good eating habits and a full-time safety director who insures employees have safe working areas and equipment. One result of the employees perceiving that USAA cares for them and that USAA is actually making things healthier and safer for them, is USAA&amp;apos;s absentee rate which is 45% below the national average. Helping individuals meet their potential have been the highly successful USAA education and training programs. Soon after McDermott arrived at USAA, he decided to centralize training and education and brought on board a professional educator to do it. McDermott&amp;apos;s programs had two great impacts. First, there was visible improvem But there are many ways insurers&amp;apos; costs can be reduced through more efficient operation, and through more effective advocacy of health and safety programs. Some companies, like USAA in San Antonio, operate much more efficiently than the industry average. According to NICO (National Insurance Consumer Organization -a Nader group) auto insurance rates would drop by an average of 17% nationally if all companies were as efficient as USAA. And USAA provides a 14% dividend to its cooperative owners [11]. In testimony before the same committee, Harvey Rosenfield, the author of California&amp;apos;s Proposition 103 also had positive words for USAA in contrast to other insurers: Moreover, a huge portion of the premium dollar goes to waste and inefficiency on a massive level. For example, according to Best Aggregates and Averages (1988) 23 cents of every dollar of auto insurance Fireman&amp;apos;s Fund wrote in 1987 went to claims adjustments and defense lawyers&amp;apos; fees and 28.9 cents went to agent&amp;apos;s commissions, executive salaries and other overhead expenses. Contrast that with USAA, a company which itself does exceptionally well in the insurance business and is appreciated by its customers for its excellent service. It paid 12.3 cents per premium dollar to its lawyers, and 6.9 cents per dollar to overhead [15]. USAA has continued to provide service to its members with integrity and distinction, but also has consistently made profits to protect the members&amp;apos; interests and to keep products at a level as inexpensive as possible. In Appendix 1 is a chart which dramatizes the tremendous growth in USAA under General McDermott from the end of 1968 to 1988. As this article goes into publications, the dramatic growth has continued in all the areas noted. For example, USAA&amp;apos;s owned and managed assets now exceed 16 billion dollars and USAA has almost 13,000 employees. A National Leader for Automobile Safety McDermott has long been a proponent of vehicle safety. For over a decade he has worked with automobile manufacturers, insurance institutes, private sector businesses, local and national politicians, and the media to secure improved automobile safety equipment and better safety legislation for the country. To this end, he has also initiated two separate safety campaigns, one in 1982 and one in 1988. These addressed the problem of deaths, injuries and property damage incurred through unsafe driving and inadequate safety technology. General McDermott held a national press conference on safety in Washington, D.C. on January 5, 1982.. He also made an appearance on the McNeil-Lehrer Report on the next night. During the interview, he further touted the use of passive restraints and called for prompt governmental acceptance of more rigid safety standards for automobiles. During the 1982 safety campaign, McDermott made history by making USAA the first insurance company to publish a comprehensive report on the comparative safety of domestic and foreign automobiles. The report, produced in conjunction with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (HHS), showed the statistical results of actual automobile crashes involving injuries and deaths. It listed which automobiles were most &amp;quot;crashworthy,&amp;quot; and which were more likely to cause injury or death in a crash [10]. Another aspect of the first safety campaign was General McDermott&amp;apos;s testimony at the November 28, 1983, Department of Transportation Hearing in Los Angeles, California. The thrust of his testimony was to point out the indecisiveness and ambivalence with which the government has treated auto safety by not mandating better passive restraint technology - air bangs in particular -- to automobile manufacturers. As not only an insurance company executive, but also a father and grandfather, he implored haste in implementing improved safety legislation and recommended &amp;quot;a pragmatic, action-oriented approach to get passive restraint technology into existing cars and built into the net generation of automobiles&amp;quot; [9]. An even more extensive and far-reaching safety campaign known as DRIVE SMART was sanctioned by General McDermott in 1988. At the campaign kickoff on Wednesday, March 30, 1988 at a press conference in Washington, D.C., General McDermott announced that USAA would imitate the most extensive package of auto insurance discounts and incentives ever offered [3]. These incentives and discounts were recognized by then-Secretary of Transportation Jim Burnley as bellwether actions in corporate leadership. He stated in a message at the press conference, &amp;quot;I am delighted to say that General Robert F. McDermott, Chairman of the United Services Automobile Association, has accepted the challenge and in turn is setting the standard for the insurance industry. This is not only a fine example of private sector initiative, but of the leadership industry can provide and credibility it can lend in developing public support for new safety technology. &amp;quot; Ralph Nader also stated that &amp;quot;USAA was setting the pace for Allstate, State Farm, Travelers and others&amp;quot; [12]. Included in USAA&amp;apos;s program were an Air Bag Safety Bonus and Air Bag Replacement Guarantee, an Air Bag Premium Discount, a Child Safety Seat Discount, an Anti-Lock Brake Discount and other incentives as well. The DRIVE SMART campaign began in San Antonio, Texas, in early April and will continue through 1989 and beyond. In the campaign, USAA spearheads a group of 35 business, community, educational and religious organizations pledging to commit time and resources to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities on American roads. The purpose of the campaign is multi-dimensional, informing people on the four general topics including responsible driving, the use of restraints, proper vehicle maintenance, and buying &amp;quot;smart cars&amp;quot; - cars with the latest safety features. To this end, General McDermott authorized USAA&amp;apos;s development of a variety of materials and services to support the campaign. These included billboards, bench ads, taxi and bus ad boards, safety-related videotapes, dozens of public service announcements (PSAs) for radio and television, posters, brochures, bumper stickers, decals and safety displays. Many of the materials were produced in English and Spanish to widen their audience appeal. These materials were also made available without USAA logos so that organizations could use their own logos or message. USAA made these available at no cost to any organization willing to promote the idea of automobile safety. Soon the campaign took on a statewide and nationwide focus. The Texas Highway Department adopted the theme and expanded it to DRIVE SMART TEXAS, placing DRIVE SMART TEXAS signs near entrances and exits of high-traffic areas in the state. Through the cooperation of some business sector participants (e.g. Taco Bell and 7-Eleven), the campaign entered regional and national markets through television advertising and distribution of USAA-produced DRIVE SMART materials at their locations. Public service ads in magazines were then focused toward both military and civilian communities throughout the country. McDermott carried the safety message personally to a national audience in September 1988 when he keynoted the second National Injury Control Conference. The conference was sponsored by the U.S. Center for Disease Control, and about 500 physicians, researchers and educators attended. Additionally, a USAA-sponsored DRIVE SMART AMERICA display appeared at both the National Conference of State Legislatures in Reno, Nevada, and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 1988 National Convention in Washington, D.C. for the purpose of enhancing political interest on safety issues. In all, a total of over 6.5 billion nationwide media impressions for DRIVE SMART were made in 1988. In January of 1989, Diane Stead, Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wrote a letter to McDermott. In it she said she wished &amp;quot;to personally commend you on the actions taken by USAA throughout the year to increase the safety of our nation&amp;apos;s motoring public&amp;quot; [22]. McDermott&amp;apos;s Contributions to San Antonio In a tribute to Robert McDermott recently, Mayor Henry Cisneros of San Antonio stated that &amp;quot;when the economic history of San Antonio in the 1980s is written, the most influential individual will be him (McDermott)&amp;quot; [4]. After his arrival in San Antonio, McDermott was selected as President of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. In this position he initiated the San Antonio Economic Development Council which began a drive to bring business development into San Antonio. When the Hispanic population felt they were not being included, McDermott founded United San Antonio which pulled all the disparate community groups together. In the 1980s he was responsible for getting an undergraduate engineering program at the University of Texas at San Antonio first and later graduate programs in the sciences. With this groundwork laid, he began moving in a formal sense to make San Antonio a biotechnology center for the future. He founded the Texas Research and Technology Foundation, which was established to develop a Texas Research Park. He also helped arrange for the first major gift of $15,000,000 for the park from H. Ross Perot. Today he is regarded as the key influential business leader in San Antonio. In addition to his personal contributions, McDermott believes that USAA should be a corporate good citizen, and it has been so. USAA&amp;apos;s Volunteer Corps gave over 30m000 volunteer hours to San Antonio just last year and USA is the city&amp;apos;s largest private-sector United Way contributor. Although USAA employees constitute only 2% of San Antonio&amp;apos;s work force, they contributed 10% of the total monies collected by United Way. Promulgating Ethical Ideals In addition to what McDermott has done to instill a system of corporate ethics and to integrate it into normal business activity, he has made two other major contributions as well. He is the Chairman of the International Leadership Center Foundation in Dallas. This Foundation supports Leadership America, recognized as the premier off-campus leadership training program for college students in the country. The mission of the Foundation has four principal parts: -Providing ideas, advice and personal involvement to aid the Center in broadening the vision of current and emerging leaders by improving their leadership capabilities; -Formulating policies that insure excellence in all Center activities; -Promulgating high traditional American moral and ethical values that underlie successful leadership through all Foundation and Center activities; -Designing, developing and implementing plans that insure the financial stability and growth of the International Leadership Center. Participating students have all agreed that the Leadership America Program ahs had a major impact upon them because it shows the importance of ethics and values as a foundation for leadership. As a second major action, USAA is underwriting a series of four nationally-televised programs under the title &amp;quot;Raising Good Kids in Bad Times.&amp;quot; Produced by Emmy Award-winning producer Arnold Shapiro, the first program, &amp;quot;See Dick and Jane Lie, Cheat and Steal: Teaching Morality to Kids,&amp;quot; will air on U.S. Commercial stations in April. Tom Selleck will host the program. Other films will include &amp;quot;The Truth About Teaching,&amp;quot; hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, &amp;quot;The American Dream Contest,&amp;quot; hosted by Michael Landon, &amp;quot;New &amp; Improved Kids,&amp;quot; with Loni Anderson, and James Garner holding the reins on &amp;quot;Take Me to your Leaders.&amp;quot; The series has already been contracted by over 98% of the national television market. Robert F. McDermott&amp;apos;s achievements in his chosen careers and his efforts on behalf of the insurance and financial services industry, his community and our society and nation resulted in his selection to the American National Business Hall of Fame in 1989. His achievements underline that personal ethical conduct, integrity and respect for God and country provide a foundation for success when carried into the world of business. *This article by Paul T. Ringenbach was originally published in The Journal of Business Leadership, Volume 3, Number 2, Summer 1990. *Copyright 1990. The American National Business Hall of Fame. All rights reserved. No portion of ANBHF may be duplicated, redistributed or manipulated without the expressed permission of the ANBHF. REFERENCES 1. Alster, Norm. (1989, February 13). What flexible workers can do. Fortune, p. 64.2. Best&amp;apos;s Insurance Reports. (1989). USAA received an A+ (Superior) rating in Best&amp;apos;s Property-Casualty (p. 2625) and Life-Health (p. 2264). Oldwich, NJ: AM Best Company.3. Burnley, James. (Secretary of Transportation). (1988, March 30). [Remarks at a press conference to announce the beginning of the DRIVE SMART safety campaign.] Washington, D.C.4. Cisneros, Henry. (Mayor of San Antonio). (1988, October 6). [Remarks given at the dedication of USAA Towers]. San Antonio, Texas.5. Elkind, Peter. (1987, Spring). McDermott&amp;apos;s mission. Best of Business, p. 8-15.6. Hamm, Lt. General Charles R. (Superintendent of the U.S&amp;gt; Air Force Academy). (1988, November 4). {Remarks at the dedication of Arnold Auditorium, United States Military Academy]. West Point, New York.7. IDC Financial Publications, Inc. (1989, February). S&amp;L - Savings Bank Financial Quarterly, p. 82.8. Mack, Toni. (1988, July 25). They have faith in us. Forbes, p. 82.9. McDermott, Robert F. (Chairman USAA). (1983, November 28). [Testimony before the California Department of Transportation]. Los Angeles, California.10. McDermott, Robert F. (1982, January 19). Americans are dying for better gas mileage. Wall Street Journal, p. 13.11. Nader, Ralph. (Founder of Public Interest Research Group). (1988, December 6). [Testimony before the Commerce, Consumer Protection and Competitiveness Sub-Committee, U.S. House of Representatives]. Washington, D.C.12. Nader, Ralph. (Founder of the Center for Auto Safety). (1988, March 20). [Response to the announcement of USAA safety incentives]. Washington, D.C.13. Nussbaum, Bruce, et. Al. (1985, January 21). The new corporate elite. Business Week, p. 63.14. Reich, Kenneth (1988, June 7). USAA again ranks first in satisfaction on auto insurance. Los Angeles Times, p. 3.15. Rosenfield Harvey. (Architect of California&amp;apos;s Proposition 103). (1988, December 6). [Testimony before the Commerce, Consumer Protection and Competitiveness Sub-Committee, U.S. House of Representatives]. Washington, D.C.16. Staff. (1970, June). Consumer Reports, p. 433.17. Staff. (1977, June). Consumer Reports, p. 377.18. Staff. (1980, September). Consumer Reports, p. 543.19. Staff. (1984, September). Consumer Reports, p. 508.20. Staff. (1988, October). Which companies offer better service? Consumer Reports, p. 628.21. Staff. (1989, February/March). Twenty-first century mail communications system on-line at insurance concern. Mail: The Journal of Mail Distribution, p. 16-17.15.22. Stead, Diane. (Administrator of the National Highway Safety Administration). (1989, January). [Letter to Robert F. McDermott, USAA]. San Antonio, Texas.23. Turco, Frank. (1988, March 24). Ratio of complaints against 19 insurers stirs state scrutiny. Arizona Republic, p. c7.24. USAA Public Affairs Department. (1985). A mission of trust: USAA Corporate culture. (San Antonio, Texas: USAA Publishing Services.25. USAA Strategic Planning and Analysis. (1988). Strategic planning guidance document. (San Antonio, Texas: USAA Publishing Services.26. Yourdon, Ed. (1989, February 2). Exemplary data processing organizations. American Programmer, p. 26.27. Zemke, Ron, Shaaf, Dick (1989). The service edge. (Foreword by Tom Peters). New York: New American Library. nt in the service USAA could provide to its members because of the improved education and training the employees received. Second, was the great morale factor it proved to be. McDermott began off-duty educational programs offered in USAA facilities and paid 100% tuition reimbursement for employees attending colleges and university courses. It did not stop there. He also paid for professional development courses leading to professional designations such as CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter) and CPCU (Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter). McDermott&amp;apos;s centralized training concept has provided USAA with a broad diversity of training from entry-level training for claims and policy service personnel to management development courses to make technical personnel ready to assume supervisory positions. The Management Information Seminar provides senior managers a forum to learn about other divisions of the company and to mingle with other senior USAA executives and senior managers. The result is a free flow of ideas across divisions to help all the diverse elements be of maximum benefit to each other. USAA Growth and Diversification In the first long-range planning meeting at Hamilton, New York, McDermott had set out his vision of growth for USAA. The first order of business was to strengthen and expand the Property and Casualty business which was the heart of the company. Developing the ethical and service policy and strengthening the employees were critical parts of the foundation for growth as was development of computer systems to support the growth and improved service. USAA expansion in the Property and Casualty area had two parts - expanding the geographical area in which USAA could sell insurance and capturing a larger portion of the targeted market. When McDermott arrived, USAA could sell auto insurance in 48 of 50 states, but was able to sell homeowner policies in only 31 of 50 states. As a reciprocal insurance exchange that sold only to military officers this was a problem. When officers were ordered to states where USAA could not sell, membership suffered. McDermott established a corporate legal staff and charged it with getting USAA licensed for both lines in all states. With this underway, he initiated USAA&amp;apos;s first corporate marketing staff and charged it with bringing in more members. The combination of the two initiatives resulted in USAA being licensed for auto and homeowner policies in all states, and as of the end of 1988, the penetration of the active duty officer market had reached 97%. When one eliminates those who can not be insured, such as those stationed in Warsaw Pact countries, and those without cars, USAA has close to 100% of those active-duty officers it is willing to insure. Today USAA is the 6th largest private automobile and homeowners insurer in the United States. From the beginning, McDermott combined his own sixth sense with those of members&amp;apos; desires to diversify USAA and add lines he believed could be supported. One of the key innovations was his decision to offer automobile and homeowners insurance to children of members through a new USAA subsidiary. With USAA Board of Directors&amp;apos; support, the program went into full swing and is now the fastest growing portion of the Property and Casualty business at USAA. At the end of 1968, USAA had only a small life insurance program in addition to the property and casualty insurance. As result of formal and informal surveys of members, McDermott wished to expand USAA offerings. Under the original bylaws, this was prohibited and so he had to convince the USAA Board of directors to change them to permit diversification. By virtue of his own persuasion and the desires of the membership, the Board reluctantly agreed. Its reluctance stemmed from the tradition-bound mind-set of those wishing to sell property and casualty insurance only. In 1968, USAA stood 504th among American life insurance companies in terms of life insurance in force, but that was soon to change. At that time, USAA offered only whole life insurance policies. Over the years other products were added to the line, and the life insurance ranking climbed slowly at first and then with increasing intensity. Now the USAA Life Insurance Company offers a full range of life insurance products an has added a number of health insurance products as well. In 1976, a line of annuities was also added. Today USAA stands 55th in national raking based on the dollars of ordinary life insurance in force. Success in life insurance led to further entries into the financial services area. Under the USAA Investment Management Company (IMCO), begun in 1983, 12 no-load mutual funds were added over time, each tailored to different member desires and needs. Some of them include money market, growth, tax-exempt, international and precious metals funds. Today, USAA stands 34th in national mutual fund group ranking. In addition to the mutual funds, a real estate division has offered Real Estate Limited Partnerships. Among the youngest of the financial services offerings, the Real Estate Division turned a profit in 1988 and has great future promise. USAA also added a Discount Brokerage, which now numbers 38,000 active accounts and handles stock transfers for IMCO, cutting USAA costs. Almost from his arrival at USAA, McDermott had wanted to open a bank, but various rules and regulations prohibited insurance companies from doing so. In the early 1980s, deregulation of financial institutions and other legal and regulatory provisions made it seem possible for USAA to open a savings and loan institution. In October of 1983, a window of opportunity opened and McDermott moved quickly. On December 30, 1983, USAA capitalized its new savings and loan with $20,000,000 and opened in a renovated trailer building on the USAA property. USAA members joined at a rapid rate. One pundit at the time pointed out that USAA members felt very strongly about the integrity of USAA and its backing of the savings and loan since they sent money to a trailer pointed at the Mexican border. Today, only six years later, the USAA Federal Savings Bank has over $1 billion in assets and has received top marks from independent raters [7]. Another sign of USAA members&amp;apos; strong faith in USAA and what it backs is the USAA Federal Savings Bank&amp;apos;s experience with the MasterCard. USAA sent 240,000 pre-approved credit card applications to members. Industry experts predicted that 10-12% might be a reasonable return based on USAA reputation. In the first couple of months, USAA members returned applications to establish a return rate of over 50%. Today over 1 million USAA MasterCards are in use, and USAA&amp;apos;s national standing is fifth in sales volume for all institutions issuing a MasterCard. USAA purchased another financial institution in Utah in 1988 and opened the FDIC-insured USAA Federal Savings Association with a gold MasterCard following shortly thereafter. In 1988, in another McDermott innovation, USAA opened the USAA Towers, a luxury retirement center in San Antonio. The 23-story, $75,000,000 building has won high ratings from the retired community and the retirement industry. Many of the strides McDermott has made in the financial services area have produced accolades from members and have received praise from a variety of respected financial institutions. In 1987, the Nilson Report and NBC&amp;apos;s Today Show proclaimed the USAA MasterCard as the number one buy in the country. Many of the mutual funds have been praised as excellent investments in national publications such as Fortune and Money. The USAA Federal Savings Bank was given ICD Financial Publishing&amp;apos;s first-ever &amp;quot;perfect&amp;quot; rating for an institution with assets of over $50,000,000[7]. USAA Life Insurance Company has received A.M. Best A+ rating since 1975 and the Property and Casualty Division for much longer [2]. The success of all of these USAA programs has been due to the excellent relationship of mutual trust and confidence built up between USAA and its members based on the ethical conduct and integrity of the customers and the company itself. &amp;quot;Service to the Member&amp;quot; is the watchword continually espoused in USAA and is the clearest expression of USAA&amp;apos;s positive relationship with its members. That &amp;quot;Service to the Member&amp;quot; philosophy implanted by McDermott has continued during USAA&amp;apos;s rapid growth, and a key element of that service is member contact. As a direct-writer, USAA relies primarily on telephone and postal communication with its members. Over the years, McDermott has guided the staff to a communications status - technologically and from the standpoint of efficiency - that ensures members have fast and direct contact with USAA. In 1969, about 99% of USAA&amp;apos;s member contact was by mail. Today USAA relies more on the immediacy of telephone contact. Its employees receive about 17.8 million calls a year, and average daily phone volume is about 65,000 calls. With over 1,000 lines, USAA is the largest single point of termination for WATS lines in the country. Still, USAA continues to rely heavily on use of the mail. It is the nation&amp;apos;s largest direct mailer in terms of sales volume and fifth largest internationally. A staff of more than 450, full- and part-time, handle approximately 27 million incoming and 73 million outgoing pieces of mail annually. Technology, combined with employee morale and esprit de corps, ensures USAA members receive the best possible communications service [21]. How well USAA is doing in providing service to its members can be measured in a number of ways. The steady growth of USAA and success of its diversification efforts are surely one measure. Another are surveys USAA administers to members which show great member satisfaction. It would be easy to write off USAA&amp;apos;s surveys of its own members, but the findings have been confirmed in a number of other places by different institutions. For example, the October 1988 issue of Consumer Reports picked USAA as one of the best three companies in the nation in terms of service. The other two were much smaller firms [20]. This was the 4th such judgment by Consumer Reports over the past 20 years [16, 17, 18, 19]. USAA had the best record in the state for both homeowners and private auto insurance in terms of the fewest number of complaints per one thousand policyholders [14]. The Arizona Insurance Department had the same findings for USAA personal lines insurance [23]. In an industry categorized as a &amp;quot;service Industry&amp;quot;, USAA is clearly one of the national leaders due to the leadership of Robert McDermott. In its January 21, 1985 issue, Business Week selected 50 leaders who were representative of the new corporate elite. Of the 9 selected in the &amp;quot;service Gurus&amp;quot; category, McDermott was the only CEO of an insurance firm selected [13]. In the July 25, 1988, Forbes, McDermott said in an interview with Toni Mack that , &amp;quot;if you put service number one, everything else will follow,&amp;quot; and so it has [8]. Most recently USAA was among 101 companies singled out in the 1989 book The Service Edge by Ron Zemke with Dick Schaaf [27]. In his foreword to the book, Tom Peters said that the 101 companies described will hopefully have &amp;quot;good management at the top, and throughout any firm, to appreciate just what an unstinting dedication to service can amount to - and to challenge each and every one of us about making such a commitment in our own outfits&amp;quot; [27]. It is clear that providing great service to its own members, USAA has caught national attention as well. McDermott&amp;apos;s leadership qualities, within and outside the insurance industry, and his concern for community and country were also reflected in a Best of Business Quarterly interview that appeared in the journal&amp;apos;s Spring 1987 issue [5]. Fiscal Management Providing great service has not been done without consideration of the bottom line. USAA has consistently maintained the lowest cost/expense ratio in the insurance industry and has paid dividends to members every year. In the aftermath of the insurance revolt in California in the November 1988 election, consumer advocate Ralph Nader testified before the House Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Competitiveness Subcommittee on December 6, 1988.Although Nader excoriated the insurance industry, he had positive testimony for USAA. He stated:

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&amp;lt;number&amp;gt; Feb 1910 arrival March 1910 First Flight in charge of the first airplane owned and used in the service of the U.S. Army He was the only pilot, navigator, instructor, observer and commander in the heavier-than-air division of the U.S. Army from November 1909 to April 1911. Mexican Punitive Expedition: Poncho Villa (March to August 1916) Taking part in Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing 1916 Mexican expedition was a learning experience for the U. S. Army&amp;apos;s first air arm--mainly in respect to its own deficiencies. designed and used the first radio receiving set ever used in a military airplane Invented Wheels and Seat belt among other things first airplane reconnaissance flight He advocated a separate air force and became chief of the Army Air Corps Mexican Punitive Expedition (March to August 1916) with General John J. Pershing, the commander of the expedition. Foulois was slight of stature, combative, outspoken, often impetuous, and seldom diplomatic. Despite a stormy career centered on the fight for an independent air force, he was appointed Chief of the Air Corps in 1931. Along the way, especially as chief, Foulois&amp;apos; s crusading zeal and intemperance earned him the enmity of President Franklin Roosevelt, some powerful members of Congress, and most of the War Department General Staff. When he retired in December 1935, there was no ceremony, no medal for the pioneer who had done so much for military aviation. The Army bought the Wright aircraft; the agreement required the inventors to teach two officers to fly the machine. Benny was slated to be one of the trainees until he made disparaging remarks about the worth of dirigibles that were contrary to the official War Department view. The Army brass decided to put this outspoken little lieutenant in his place. A shocked Foulois received orders to proceed at once to an aeronautical meeting in France. This was a heady time for the thirty-year-old lieutenant. He began modifying the plane and experimenting with ways to use it to support ground forces. He substituted wheels for the original skids and installed the first airplane seat belt after nearly being thrown out of the machine while attempting to land in gusty winds. Foulois also demonstrated the airplane&amp;apos;s practical use in military operations by doing aerial mapping, photography, and observation of troop movements. When trouble erupted along the Mexican border, he set a cross-country distance record of 1 06 miles on March 3,1911, while on a reconnaissance flight. The same year he designed the first air-to-ground wireless system and demonstrated its practicality. The Army, however, remained unimpressed with military aviation. Its fragile plane spent more time in the repair shop than in the air. Among the many firsts Foulois attained during his distinguished career are; 1908 First flight as a dirigible pilot 1909 First observer on an aircraft cross-country 1910 First military man to teach himself to fly First and only military test pilot flying Old No. 1 1911 First to fly more than 100 miles non-stop First on an operational reconnaissance flight First to test use of radio in flight 1914 First commander of a tactical air unit (1st Aero Squadron) First commander of the first mechanized tactical unit in the U.S. Army (1st Aero Squadron) 1916 First to use an aircraft in a combat operation (Mexico) 1918 First chief of Air Service, AEF, 1st Army 1931 First chief of Air Corps to be a military aviator 1933 First Air Corps chief to be awarded Mackay Trophy 1962 First Honorary Staff Member of Air Force Systems Command 1964 First honorary member of the Aerospace Primus Club

&amp;lt;number&amp;gt; Lieutenant Colonel Edward White During the third revolution, he carried out the first extra vehicular activity in the United States manned space flight program. He was outside Gemini 4 for 21 minutes, and became the first man to control himself in space during EVA with a maneuvering unit. he was named as one of the pilots of the AS-204 mission, the first 3-man Apollo flight. Lieutenant Colonel White died on January 26, 1967, in the Apollo spacecraft flash fire during a launch pad test at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

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&amp;lt;number&amp;gt; McDermott&amp;apos;s Contributions to San Antonio http://www.anbhf.org/laureates/mcdermott.html In a tribute to Robert McDermott recently, Mayor Henry Cisneros of San Antonio stated that &amp;quot;when the economic history of San Antonio in the 1980s is written, the most influential individual will be him (McDermott)&amp;quot; [4]. After his arrival in San Antonio, McDermott was selected as President of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. In this position he initiated the San Antonio Economic Development Council which began a drive to bring business development into San Antonio. When the Hispanic population felt they were not being included, McDermott founded United San Antonio which pulled all the disparate community groups together. In the 1980s he was responsible for getting an undergraduate engineering program at the University of Texas at San Antonio first and later graduate programs in the sciences. With this groundwork laid, he began moving in a formal sense to make San Antonio a biotechnology center for the future. He founded the Texas Research and Technology Foundation, which was established to develop a Texas Research Park. He also helped arrange for the first major gift of $15,000,000 for the park from H. Ross Perot. Today he is regarded as the key influential business leader in San Antonio. In addition to his personal contributions, McDermott believes that USAA should be a corporate good citizen, and it has been so. USAA&amp;apos;s Volunteer Corps gave over 30m000 volunteer hours to San Antonio just last year and USA is the city&amp;apos;s largest private-sector United Way contributor. Although USAA employees constitute only 2% of San Antonio&amp;apos;s work force, they contributed 10% of the total monies collected by United Way. Brigadier General Robert F. McDermott and USAA - Service Plus Ethics Equals Success Dreamers and doers rarely come in the same package. The historical record is replete with figures who seem to have extraordinary vision, but who are unable to make their dreams come into reality. On the other hand, there are many who have been able to execute the ideas of others, but who do not seem to be able to think in broad terms bout the future. Recent historical scholarship placed John F. Kennedy in the first category and Lyndon Baines Johnson in the second. Robert F. McDermott, Chairman and CEO of USAA is one of the rare individuals who have brilliant conceptual ideas an who have been able to put them into operation. The First Career Prior to becoming CEO of USAA, McDermott had already demonstrated these traits while serving on active duty in the Air Force as the first permanent Dean of the newly founded USAF Academy. Upon assuming his position, the new Dean wished to make the Academy a premier undergraduate academic institution, as well as developer of professional military officers and leaders. He wished to attract first-rate applicants chosen without regard to political connections and to challenge them to meet their potential. He introduced sweeping innovations by overcoming opposition from the military establishment, particularly at West Point and Annapolis, political insiders in Washington, and those who wanted no change at all. The changes included introducing over 25 academic majors, setting up cooperative Master&amp;apos;s degree programs with outstanding institutions, building a first class library, faculty and staff, and introducing the &amp;quot;whole man&amp;quot; admission program with little regard to political connections. All this resulted in McDermott getting the Air Force Academy accredited by the North Central Association prior to its first class graduating. This was an unheard of accomplishment. When he retired in 1968, the other military academies were already changing curriculum and procedures to match the newest of the academies. At a ceremony at West Point in 1989, the Superintendent of the US Air Force Academy, Lt. General Charles Hamm, referred to McDermott as the Sylvanus Thayer of the twentieth century, crediting McDermott with bringing all US service academies &amp;quot;into the twentieth century&amp;quot; [6]. USAA - The McDermott Infrastructure With his outstanding reputation as an insurance scholar developed through his teaching and two published books, his solid academic preparation including an MBA from Harvard, and his national reputation as a visionary, organizer, leader and manager, he came to USAA as an Executive Vice President in July of 1968. Over the next six months he would observe all facets of USAA&amp;apos;s operation and begin formulating his visions for the future of USAA. When he assumed the role of President and CEO of USAA on January 1, 1969, the company was in good shape overall. Serving the auto property and casualty insurance needs of active duty officers since 1922, it had a solid reputation and had penetrated 70% of its potential market. It also provided homeowners insurance in some states and had just begun offering a basic life insurance policy. The members (USAA is actually a reciprocal insurance exchange - a member-owned cooperative if you will) were basically happy and contented with their company. On the face of it, it would not seem that a new man could do a great deal better than was already being done, but McDermott had observed much during his six-month orientation. While the small company was doing well and had assets of $200,000,000, it was doing well with increasing difficulty. Although basically solid financially, the Board had accorded the departing President &amp;quot;special recognition&amp;quot; by raising the annual dividend to all the members to a new high. This put the previous president in a rosy glow, but placed USAA in a hazardous cash position. One of McDermott&amp;apos;s first acts was to cancel the &amp;quot;extra&amp;quot; dividend which created immediate unrest among the members, but which was necessary if the company were to get through a temporary financial crisis. It did. In the operating levels of USAA, McDermott noted many problems. The approximately 3,000 employees (over 90% women) did not like the work at all, and the annual turnover rate of 43% made this clear. To initiate a new automobile insurance [policy required 55 different steps at 55 different desks. Some of these simple steps were mind deadening, like pulling staples or unsealing envelops. The operation required moving files up and down seven different floors, and claims and underwriting maintained separate records on each member. At each desk were shelves and bins piled high with records requiring some action or awaiting filing. So confusing was the operation and so many records misplaced that a crew of dozens of college students searched for missing records every night in order to return them to where they were needed. Most employees felt that USAA was a good place to start, but few wanted to remain there and a career was unthinkable. The employees had little education and less loyalty to USAA. It was clear to McDermott that if USAA were to be a truly great company, sweeping changes would have to occur. Gathering with him a small number of those he brought on board and a few incumbents, he held a serious long-range planning meeting at the American Management Association&amp;apos;s Conference Center in Hamilton, New York to set the future course for USAA. At this meeting and, to a lesser extent, those of the next two years, he began to reveal his goals for the future. On the operational side he challenged USAA to become a &amp;quot;paperless&amp;quot; insurance company, which seemed unreachable at the time. He committed USAA fully to use the newest technology to improve the operation and to make employees&amp;apos; jobs more meaningful. As a result, he was certain productivity would rise. He challenged the company to work through a myriad of state regulations and laws to enable USAA to provide automobile and property insurance to all members in all states. As far as employees were concerned, McDermott wanted sweeping changes to orient employees to provide better and more ethical service to the members. He proposed to accomplish this by developing a &amp;quot;corporate culture&amp;quot; that would provide an ethical, and service-oriented foundation that would permeate the entire company. He instituted the USAA Creed which charged members and employees to serve &amp;quot;each other with integrity and dependability&amp;quot; [25]. The goal in handling auto claims would be not to pay as little as possible and still satisfy the member, but to exercise &amp;quot;the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct while transacting claims business&amp;quot; [24]. Providing timely and responsive service with integrity and ethical conduct would build member faith and strengthen USAA for future growth. Training on ethical conduct became a staple in new employee orientation and all training courses. He even sought a new logo to give the company a more solid and a more modern look. McDermott recognized that a corporate culture in itself would not work without building pride among the employees. He challenged USAA to build new employment incentives including pay and other benefits. He pushed the Board of Directors in the direction of building a new facility to house all of USAA to increase efficiency and to give the employees more pride. Perhaps most important of all, he insisted programs be developed to encourage each employee to grow to his or her maximum potential. During McDermott&amp;apos;s first few years, dozens of changes swept over USAA and its employees. The pattern for the larger changes was similar - first the vision, followed by long and short-range plans to accomplish the task. Then specialists, often outside consultants, would help in the development of operational ideas and selection of equipment. At the same time, intelligent, hard-working individuals were placed in charge of the projects and were given latitude to build teams and develop the operation programs. At almost the same juncture, plans were made to train affected employees and to prepare them physically and psychologically for the changes. These efforts tended to bring in innovations more quickly than expected with strong acceptance by the employees themselves. The results were more efficiency, productivity, and pride in a job done better than before. A typical example was the introduction of a computer system designed to produce multi-car policies. Today, all companies issue policies that list all the cars owned by a family. In 1969, each car had its own policy. The administrative work required to produce these policies was labor-intensive and expensive. With the introduction of a multi-car computer software system, all vehicles were listed on one policy. Just this change enabled USAA to increase its productivity enormously, deleting hundreds of manpower spaces in one year. A second benefit of this new system was to spread the auto renewal periods throughout the year. This enabled USAA to level out the workload and make more efficient use of available manpower. Over time, the development of USAA&amp;apos;s gigantic information systems continually increased productivity and enabled it to provide better service to the members. At the present time, USAA has the largest IBM facility in the United States in terms of the numbers of transactions completed daily. The statistical growth is shown in Appendix 1, but does not really show what it means to the company today. Whereas issuing a policy in 1969 took 55 steps and an inordinate amount of time, today one Policy Service employee handles the entire transaction using his or her computer screen and the policy is on its way to the member in three days or less. This effort was highlighted recently in the February 13, 1989 issue of Fortune magazine [1]. Today, McDermott&amp;apos;s earliest visions of leading-edge technology continue to unfold. Still working toward a &amp;quot;paperless&amp;quot; environment, USAA had been working on the development of imaging techniques. After a short experiment with 3M in 1984, McDermott convinced John Akers, CEO of IBM, to work with USAA in development and execution of the image-processing system. Working as partners, USA and IBM computer specialists and engineers were successful. In late 1988, John Akers came to USAA to cut the ribbon and see the new system in operation. Very simply, a document, such as a police report is given the USAA number and entered into the computer system by a process resembling a data fax to the casual observer. Only in this case the document is stored on an optical disk and is ready for recall at any of USAA&amp;apos;s image computer screens in a split second. By the spring of 1989 USAA had all policy service documents on optical disks rendering the millions of pieces of paper expendable. After everything is entered on the optical disks, lost documents and misplaced files will become folklore instead of reality. McDermott&amp;apos;s effort in improving his work force and pushing USAA into leading edge technology have combined into what Ed Yourdon called in the February 1989 issue of American Programmer one of the extremely rare &amp;quot;Exemplary Data Processing Organizations&amp;quot; in the country [26]. He pointed out how much &amp;quot;influence an exemplary CEO can have in the creation and motivation of an exemplary data processing organization.&amp;quot; Improving the Work Force One of McDermott&amp;apos;s earliest visions had been to improve working conditions by developing a new facility able to house all USAA employees under one roof. In 1969 he personally looked over properties. He rejected sites convenient to the city center where most employees lived and selected a site in the undeveloped northwest part of the city. He talked the Board of Directors into authorizing the purchase of 286 acres. He wanted good access for the employees and to build a campus-like setting. He wanted room for growth and did not want others encroaching upon USAA itself or its view. Today, the USAA property sits in the center of the fastest-growing area of the city and the value of the property has escalated like the population of San Antonio. As far as the building itself was concerned, McDermott wanted it to be a place where the employees would be proud and happy to work. He wanted the principal aesthetic costs concentrated on the interior and not the exterior. When completed in 1975, it turned out to be a state-of-the-art building for 1989 and was, and still is, the second largest horizontal office building in the country. All the flooring is &amp;quot;computer flooring&amp;quot; enabling the thousands of miles of computer and telephone wiring to be out of sight and to make internal moves easy and economical. The building has a center spine and on the main floor, three different courtyards where the employees can relax body and mind. Each courtyard has a different theme providing additional aesthetic beauty. The work areas themselves have cubicles including telephones and a computer terminal and are located adjacent to the courtyards for breaks. The building also contains other amenities to increase the comfort of the employees. Included is a company store to purchase sundry items, a ticket counter to purchase discounted tickets to San Antonio attractions, a contract post office, a health clinic, exercise gymnasium and outstanding cafeterias. Getting good employees to come to USAA was only one step. Retention of good employees was the next. To assist in both these tasks, McDermott introduced programs to improve the physical well being and health of the employees and to help them develop to achieve their individual potential as well. Building and maintaining the physical well being of the USAA employees has been a multi-faceted program. In 1972, McDermott convinced the USAA Board of Directors to incorporate a physical fitness center into the new building. The resultant 9,700 square foot center houses lockers, saunas, steam rooms, cardiovascular treadmills and exercise bicycles, a Nordic skier and rowing machines. Two professional exercise physiologists monitor the individual exercise programs. Almost 2,000 employees participate in the center&amp;apos;s programs. Outside the building are 35 acres devoted to fitness activity areas which include five miles of jogging trails winding through the trees, a multi-purpose soccer field, softball fields, basketball and volleyball courts, and tennis courts. All are equipped with lights for evening use. This year almost 3,000 employees participated in various intramural sports leagues. The fitness and athletic program is balanced by a first-class health service staff and program. Its eight registered nurses provide a complete health-oriented program for employees. Among the programs conducted are brown-bag health seminars, free allergy and flue immunizations, on-site mammograms, free diabetes, hypertension and cholesterol testing and an annual Health Fair. The Health Services staff also provides smoking cessation training which was of significant help when McDermott phased in a &amp;quot;no smoking&amp;quot; policy in all USAA buildings. At the present time, smoking is authorized in only a few lounges and a small section of the cafeterias, with the goal to eliminate all smoking by the end of 1990. Free comprehensive physical examinations are provided to employees over 50 years of age. Confidential employee counseling is also provided. In 1980 alone, the counselors served over 3,000 employees. Part of the counseling service also includes information on area childcare facilities. Other wellness incentives include low-priced &amp;quot;Treat Yourself Right&amp;quot; menus in the cafeteria which encourage good eating habits and a full-time safety director who insures employees have safe working areas and equipment. One result of the employees perceiving that USAA cares for them and that USAA is actually making things healthier and safer for them, is USAA&amp;apos;s absentee rate which is 45% below the national average. Helping individuals meet their potential have been the highly successful USAA education and training programs. Soon after McDermott arrived at USAA, he decided to centralize training and education and brought on board a professional educator to do it. McDermott&amp;apos;s programs had two great impacts. First, there was visible improvem But there are many ways insurers&amp;apos; costs can be reduced through more efficient operation, and through more effective advocacy of health and safety programs. Some companies, like USAA in San Antonio, operate much more efficiently than the industry average. According to NICO (National Insurance Consumer Organization -a Nader group) auto insurance rates would drop by an average of 17% nationally if all companies were as efficient as USAA. And USAA provides a 14% dividend to its cooperative owners [11]. In testimony before the same committee, Harvey Rosenfield, the author of California&amp;apos;s Proposition 103 also had positive words for USAA in contrast to other insurers: Moreover, a huge portion of the premium dollar goes to waste and inefficiency on a massive level. For example, according to Best Aggregates and Averages (1988) 23 cents of every dollar of auto insurance Fireman&amp;apos;s Fund wrote in 1987 went to claims adjustments and defense lawyers&amp;apos; fees and 28.9 cents went to agent&amp;apos;s commissions, executive salaries and other overhead expenses. Contrast that with USAA, a company which itself does exceptionally well in the insurance business and is appreciated by its customers for its excellent service. It paid 12.3 cents per premium dollar to its lawyers, and 6.9 cents per dollar to overhead [15]. USAA has continued to provide service to its members with integrity and distinction, but also has consistently made profits to protect the members&amp;apos; interests and to keep products at a level as inexpensive as possible. In Appendix 1 is a chart which dramatizes the tremendous growth in USAA under General McDermott from the end of 1968 to 1988. As this article goes into publications, the dramatic growth has continued in all the areas noted. For example, USAA&amp;apos;s owned and managed assets now exceed 16 billion dollars and USAA has almost 13,000 employees. A National Leader for Automobile Safety McDermott has long been a proponent of vehicle safety. For over a decade he has worked with automobile manufacturers, insurance institutes, private sector businesses, local and national politicians, and the media to secure improved automobile safety equipment and better safety legislation for the country. To this end, he has also initiated two separate safety campaigns, one in 1982 and one in 1988. These addressed the problem of deaths, injuries and property damage incurred through unsafe driving and inadequate safety technology. General McDermott held a national press conference on safety in Washington, D.C. on January 5, 1982.. He also made an appearance on the McNeil-Lehrer Report on the next night. During the interview, he further touted the use of passive restraints and called for prompt governmental acceptance of more rigid safety standards for automobiles. During the 1982 safety campaign, McDermott made history by making USAA the first insurance company to publish a comprehensive report on the comparative safety of domestic and foreign automobiles. The report, produced in conjunction with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (HHS), showed the statistical results of actual automobile crashes involving injuries and deaths. It listed which automobiles were most &amp;quot;crashworthy,&amp;quot; and which were more likely to cause injury or death in a crash [10]. Another aspect of the first safety campaign was General McDermott&amp;apos;s testimony at the November 28, 1983, Department of Transportation Hearing in Los Angeles, California. The thrust of his testimony was to point out the indecisiveness and ambivalence with which the government has treated auto safety by not mandating better passive restraint technology - air bangs in particular -- to automobile manufacturers. As not only an insurance company executive, but also a father and grandfather, he implored haste in implementing improved safety legislation and recommended &amp;quot;a pragmatic, action-oriented approach to get passive restraint technology into existing cars and built into the net generation of automobiles&amp;quot; [9]. An even more extensive and far-reaching safety campaign known as DRIVE SMART was sanctioned by General McDermott in 1988. At the campaign kickoff on Wednesday, March 30, 1988 at a press conference in Washington, D.C., General McDermott announced that USAA would imitate the most extensive package of auto insurance discounts and incentives ever offered [3]. These incentives and discounts were recognized by then-Secretary of Transportation Jim Burnley as bellwether actions in corporate leadership. He stated in a message at the press conference, &amp;quot;I am delighted to say that General Robert F. McDermott, Chairman of the United Services Automobile Association, has accepted the challenge and in turn is setting the standard for the insurance industry. This is not only a fine example of private sector initiative, but of the leadership industry can provide and credibility it can lend in developing public support for new safety technology. &amp;quot; Ralph Nader also stated that &amp;quot;USAA was setting the pace for Allstate, State Farm, Travelers and others&amp;quot; [12]. Included in USAA&amp;apos;s program were an Air Bag Safety Bonus and Air Bag Replacement Guarantee, an Air Bag Premium Discount, a Child Safety Seat Discount, an Anti-Lock Brake Discount and other incentives as well. The DRIVE SMART campaign began in San Antonio, Texas, in early April and will continue through 1989 and beyond. In the campaign, USAA spearheads a group of 35 business, community, educational and religious organizations pledging to commit time and resources to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities on American roads. The purpose of the campaign is multi-dimensional, informing people on the four general topics including responsible driving, the use of restraints, proper vehicle maintenance, and buying &amp;quot;smart cars&amp;quot; - cars with the latest safety features. To this end, General McDermott authorized USAA&amp;apos;s development of a variety of materials and services to support the campaign. These included billboards, bench ads, taxi and bus ad boards, safety-related videotapes, dozens of public service announcements (PSAs) for radio and television, posters, brochures, bumper stickers, decals and safety displays. Many of the materials were produced in English and Spanish to widen their audience appeal. These materials were also made available without USAA logos so that organizations could use their own logos or message. USAA made these available at no cost to any organization willing to promote the idea of automobile safety. Soon the campaign took on a statewide and nationwide focus. The Texas Highway Department adopted the theme and expanded it to DRIVE SMART TEXAS, placing DRIVE SMART TEXAS signs near entrances and exits of high-traffic areas in the state. Through the cooperation of some business sector participants (e.g. Taco Bell and 7-Eleven), the campaign entered regional and national markets through television advertising and distribution of USAA-produced DRIVE SMART materials at their locations. Public service ads in magazines were then focused toward both military and civilian communities throughout the country. McDermott carried the safety message personally to a national audience in September 1988 when he keynoted the second National Injury Control Conference. The conference was sponsored by the U.S. Center for Disease Control, and about 500 physicians, researchers and educators attended. Additionally, a USAA-sponsored DRIVE SMART AMERICA display appeared at both the National Conference of State Legislatures in Reno, Nevada, and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 1988 National Convention in Washington, D.C. for the purpose of enhancing political interest on safety issues. In all, a total of over 6.5 billion nationwide media impressions for DRIVE SMART were made in 1988. In January of 1989, Diane Stead, Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wrote a letter to McDermott. In it she said she wished &amp;quot;to personally commend you on the actions taken by USAA throughout the year to increase the safety of our nation&amp;apos;s motoring public&amp;quot; [22]. McDermott&amp;apos;s Contributions to San Antonio In a tribute to Robert McDermott recently, Mayor Henry Cisneros of San Antonio stated that &amp;quot;when the economic history of San Antonio in the 1980s is written, the most influential individual will be him (McDermott)&amp;quot; [4]. After his arrival in San Antonio, McDermott was selected as President of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. In this position he initiated the San Antonio Economic Development Council which began a drive to bring business development into San Antonio. When the Hispanic population felt they were not being included, McDermott founded United San Antonio which pulled all the disparate community groups together. In the 1980s he was responsible for getting an undergraduate engineering program at the University of Texas at San Antonio first and later graduate programs in the sciences. With this groundwork laid, he began moving in a formal sense to make San Antonio a biotechnology center for the future. He founded the Texas Research and Technology Foundation, which was established to develop a Texas Research Park. He also helped arrange for the first major gift of $15,000,000 for the park from H. Ross Perot. Today he is regarded as the key influential business leader in San Antonio. In addition to his personal contributions, McDermott believes that USAA should be a corporate good citizen, and it has been so. USAA&amp;apos;s Volunteer Corps gave over 30m000 volunteer hours to San Antonio just last year and USA is the city&amp;apos;s largest private-sector United Way contributor. Although USAA employees constitute only 2% of San Antonio&amp;apos;s work force, they contributed 10% of the total monies collected by United Way. Promulgating Ethical Ideals In addition to what McDermott has done to instill a system of corporate ethics and to integrate it into normal business activity, he has made two other major contributions as well. He is the Chairman of the International Leadership Center Foundation in Dallas. This Foundation supports Leadership America, recognized as the premier off-campus leadership training program for college students in the country. The mission of the Foundation has four principal parts: -Providing ideas, advice and personal involvement to aid the Center in broadening the vision of current and emerging leaders by improving their leadership capabilities; -Formulating policies that insure excellence in all Center activities; -Promulgating high traditional American moral and ethical values that underlie successful leadership through all Foundation and Center activities; -Designing, developing and implementing plans that insure the financial stability and growth of the International Leadership Center. Participating students have all agreed that the Leadership America Program ahs had a major impact upon them because it shows the importance of ethics and values as a foundation for leadership. As a second major action, USAA is underwriting a series of four nationally-televised programs under the title &amp;quot;Raising Good Kids in Bad Times.&amp;quot; Produced by Emmy Award-winning producer Arnold Shapiro, the first program, &amp;quot;See Dick and Jane Lie, Cheat and Steal: Teaching Morality to Kids,&amp;quot; will air on U.S. Commercial stations in April. Tom Selleck will host the program. Other films will include &amp;quot;The Truth About Teaching,&amp;quot; hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, &amp;quot;The American Dream Contest,&amp;quot; hosted by Michael Landon, &amp;quot;New &amp; Improved Kids,&amp;quot; with Loni Anderson, and James Garner holding the reins on &amp;quot;Take Me to your Leaders.&amp;quot; The series has already been contracted by over 98% of the national television market. Robert F. McDermott&amp;apos;s achievements in his chosen careers and his efforts on behalf of the insurance and financial services industry, his community and our society and nation resulted in his selection to the American National Business Hall of Fame in 1989. His achievements underline that personal ethical conduct, integrity and respect for God and country provide a foundation for success when carried into the world of business. *This article by Paul T. Ringenbach was originally published in The Journal of Business Leadership, Volume 3, Number 2, Summer 1990. *Copyright 1990. The American National Business Hall of Fame. All rights reserved. No portion of ANBHF may be duplicated, redistributed or manipulated without the expressed permission of the ANBHF. REFERENCES 1. Alster, Norm. (1989, February 13). What flexible workers can do. Fortune, p. 64.2. Best&amp;apos;s Insurance Reports. (1989). USAA received an A+ (Superior) rating in Best&amp;apos;s Property-Casualty (p. 2625) and Life-Health (p. 2264). Oldwich, NJ: AM Best Company.3. Burnley, James. (Secretary of Transportation). (1988, March 30). [Remarks at a press conference to announce the beginning of the DRIVE SMART safety campaign.] Washington, D.C.4. Cisneros, Henry. (Mayor of San Antonio). (1988, October 6). [Remarks given at the dedication of USAA Towers]. San Antonio, Texas.5. Elkind, Peter. (1987, Spring). McDermott&amp;apos;s mission. Best of Business, p. 8-15.6. Hamm, Lt. General Charles R. (Superintendent of the U.S&amp;gt; Air Force Academy). (1988, November 4). {Remarks at the dedication of Arnold Auditorium, United States Military Academy]. West Point, New York.7. IDC Financial Publications, Inc. (1989, February). S&amp;L - Savings Bank Financial Quarterly, p. 82.8. Mack, Toni. (1988, July 25). They have faith in us. Forbes, p. 82.9. McDermott, Robert F. (Chairman USAA). (1983, November 28). [Testimony before the California Department of Transportation]. Los Angeles, California.10. McDermott, Robert F. (1982, January 19). Americans are dying for better gas mileage. Wall Street Journal, p. 13.11. Nader, Ralph. (Founder of Public Interest Research Group). (1988, December 6). [Testimony before the Commerce, Consumer Protection and Competitiveness Sub-Committee, U.S. House of Representatives]. Washington, D.C.12. Nader, Ralph. (Founder of the Center for Auto Safety). (1988, March 20). [Response to the announcement of USAA safety incentives]. Washington, D.C.13. Nussbaum, Bruce, et. Al. (1985, January 21). The new corporate elite. Business Week, p. 63.14. Reich, Kenneth (1988, June 7). USAA again ranks first in satisfaction on auto insurance. Los Angeles Times, p. 3.15. Rosenfield Harvey. (Architect of California&amp;apos;s Proposition 103). (1988, December 6). [Testimony before the Commerce, Consumer Protection and Competitiveness Sub-Committee, U.S. House of Representatives]. Washington, D.C.16. Staff. (1970, June). Consumer Reports, p. 433.17. Staff. (1977, June). Consumer Reports, p. 377.18. Staff. (1980, September). Consumer Reports, p. 543.19. Staff. (1984, September). Consumer Reports, p. 508.20. Staff. (1988, October). Which companies offer better service? Consumer Reports, p. 628.21. Staff. (1989, February/March). Twenty-first century mail communications system on-line at insurance concern. Mail: The Journal of Mail Distribution, p. 16-17.15.22. Stead, Diane. (Administrator of the National Highway Safety Administration). (1989, January). [Letter to Robert F. McDermott, USAA]. San Antonio, Texas.23. Turco, Frank. (1988, March 24). Ratio of complaints against 19 insurers stirs state scrutiny. Arizona Republic, p. c7.24. USAA Public Affairs Department. (1985). A mission of trust: USAA Corporate culture. (San Antonio, Texas: USAA Publishing Services.25. USAA Strategic Planning and Analysis. (1988). Strategic planning guidance document. (San Antonio, Texas: USAA Publishing Services.26. Yourdon, Ed. (1989, February 2). Exemplary data processing organizations. American Programmer, p. 26.27. Zemke, Ron, Shaaf, Dick (1989). The service edge. (Foreword by Tom Peters). New York: New American Library. nt in the service USAA could provide to its members because of the improved education and training the employees received. Second, was the great morale factor it proved to be. McDermott began off-duty educational programs offered in USAA facilities and paid 100% tuition reimbursement for employees attending colleges and university courses. It did not stop there. He also paid for professional development courses leading to professional designations such as CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter) and CPCU (Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter). McDermott&amp;apos;s centralized training concept has provided USAA with a broad diversity of training from entry-level training for claims and policy service personnel to management development courses to make technical personnel ready to assume supervisory positions. The Management Information Seminar provides senior managers a forum to learn about other divisions of the company and to mingle with other senior USAA executives and senior managers. The result is a free flow of ideas across divisions to help all the diverse elements be of maximum benefit to each other. USAA Growth and Diversification In the first long-range planning meeting at Hamilton, New York, McDermott had set out his vision of growth for USAA. The first order of business was to strengthen and expand the Property and Casualty business which was the heart of the company. Developing the ethical and service policy and strengthening the employees were critical parts of the foundation for growth as was development of computer systems to support the growth and improved service. USAA expansion in the Property and Casualty area had two parts - expanding the geographical area in which USAA could sell insurance and capturing a larger portion of the targeted market. When McDermott arrived, USAA could sell auto insurance in 48 of 50 states, but was able to sell homeowner policies in only 31 of 50 states. As a reciprocal insurance exchange that sold only to military officers this was a problem. When officers were ordered to states where USAA could not sell, membership suffered. McDermott established a corporate legal staff and charged it with getting USAA licensed for both lines in all states. With this underway, he initiated USAA&amp;apos;s first corporate marketing staff and charged it with bringing in more members. The combination of the two initiatives resulted in USAA being licensed for auto and homeowner policies in all states, and as of the end of 1988, the penetration of the active duty officer market had reached 97%. When one eliminates those who can not be insured, such as those stationed in Warsaw Pact countries, and those without cars, USAA has close to 100% of those active-duty officers it is willing to insure. Today USAA is the 6th largest private automobile and homeowners insurer in the United States. From the beginning, McDermott combined his own sixth sense with those of members&amp;apos; desires to diversify USAA and add lines he believed could be supported. One of the key innovations was his decision to offer automobile and homeowners insurance to children of members through a new USAA subsidiary. With USAA Board of Directors&amp;apos; support, the program went into full swing and is now the fastest growing portion of the Property and Casualty business at USAA. At the end of 1968, USAA had only a small life insurance program in addition to the property and casualty insurance. As result of formal and informal surveys of members, McDermott wished to expand USAA offerings. Under the original bylaws, this was prohibited and so he had to convince the USAA Board of directors to change them to permit diversification. By virtue of his own persuasion and the desires of the membership, the Board reluctantly agreed. Its reluctance stemmed from the tradition-bound mind-set of those wishing to sell property and casualty insurance only. In 1968, USAA stood 504th among American life insurance companies in terms of life insurance in force, but that was soon to change. At that time, USAA offered only whole life insurance policies. Over the years other products were added to the line, and the life insurance ranking climbed slowly at first and then with increasing intensity. Now the USAA Life Insurance Company offers a full range of life insurance products an has added a number of health insurance products as well. In 1976, a line of annuities was also added. Today USAA stands 55th in national raking based on the dollars of ordinary life insurance in force. Success in life insurance led to further entries into the financial services area. Under the USAA Investment Management Company (IMCO), begun in 1983, 12 no-load mutual funds were added over time, each tailored to different member desires and needs. Some of them include money market, growth, tax-exempt, international and precious metals funds. Today, USAA stands 34th in national mutual fund group ranking. In addition to the mutual funds, a real estate division has offered Real Estate Limited Partnerships. Among the youngest of the financial services offerings, the Real Estate Division turned a profit in 1988 and has great future promise. USAA also added a Discount Brokerage, which now numbers 38,000 active accounts and handles stock transfers for IMCO, cutting USAA costs. Almost from his arrival at USAA, McDermott had wanted to open a bank, but various rules and regulations prohibited insurance companies from doing so. In the early 1980s, deregulation of financial institutions and other legal and regulatory provisions made it seem possible for USAA to open a savings and loan institution. In October of 1983, a window of opportunity opened and McDermott moved quickly. On December 30, 1983, USAA capitalized its new savings and loan with $20,000,000 and opened in a renovated trailer building on the USAA property. USAA members joined at a rapid rate. One pundit at the time pointed out that USAA members felt very strongly about the integrity of USAA and its backing of the savings and loan since they sent money to a trailer pointed at the Mexican border. Today, only six years later, the USAA Federal Savings Bank has over $1 billion in assets and has received top marks from independent raters [7]. Another sign of USAA members&amp;apos; strong faith in USAA and what it backs is the USAA Federal Savings Bank&amp;apos;s experience with the MasterCard. USAA sent 240,000 pre-approved credit card applications to members. Industry experts predicted that 10-12% might be a reasonable return based on USAA reputation. In the first couple of months, USAA members returned applications to establish a return rate of over 50%. Today over 1 million USAA MasterCards are in use, and USAA&amp;apos;s national standing is fifth in sales volume for all institutions issuing a MasterCard. USAA purchased another financial institution in Utah in 1988 and opened the FDIC-insured USAA Federal Savings Association with a gold MasterCard following shortly thereafter. In 1988, in another McDermott innovation, USAA opened the USAA Towers, a luxury retirement center in San Antonio. The 23-story, $75,000,000 building has won high ratings from the retired community and the retirement industry. Many of the strides McDermott has made in the financial services area have produced accolades from members and have received praise from a variety of respected financial institutions. In 1987, the Nilson Report and NBC&amp;apos;s Today Show proclaimed the USAA MasterCard as the number one buy in the country. Many of the mutual funds have been praised as excellent investments in national publications such as Fortune and Money. The USAA Federal Savings Bank was given ICD Financial Publishing&amp;apos;s first-ever &amp;quot;perfect&amp;quot; rating for an institution with assets of over $50,000,000[7]. USAA Life Insurance Company has received A.M. Best A+ rating since 1975 and the Property and Casualty Division for much longer [2]. The success of all of these USAA programs has been due to the excellent relationship of mutual trust and confidence built up between USAA and its members based on the ethical conduct and integrity of the customers and the company itself. &amp;quot;Service to the Member&amp;quot; is the watchword continually espoused in USAA and is the clearest expression of USAA&amp;apos;s positive relationship with its members. That &amp;quot;Service to the Member&amp;quot; philosophy implanted by McDermott has continued during USAA&amp;apos;s rapid growth, and a key element of that service is member contact. As a direct-writer, USAA relies primarily on telephone and postal communication with its members. Over the years, McDermott has guided the staff to a communications status - technologically and from the standpoint of efficiency - that ensures members have fast and direct contact with USAA. In 1969, about 99% of USAA&amp;apos;s member contact was by mail. Today USAA relies more on the immediacy of telephone contact. Its employees receive about 17.8 million calls a year, and average daily phone volume is about 65,000 calls. With over 1,000 lines, USAA is the largest single point of termination for WATS lines in the country. Still, USAA continues to rely heavily on use of the mail. It is the nation&amp;apos;s largest direct mailer in terms of sales volume and fifth largest internationally. A staff of more than 450, full- and part-time, handle approximately 27 million incoming and 73 million outgoing pieces of mail annually. Technology, combined with employee morale and esprit de corps, ensures USAA members receive the best possible communications service [21]. How well USAA is doing in providing service to its members can be measured in a number of ways. The steady growth of USAA and success of its diversification efforts are surely one measure. Another are surveys USAA administers to members which show great member satisfaction. It would be easy to write off USAA&amp;apos;s surveys of its own members, but the findings have been confirmed in a number of other places by different institutions. For example, the October 1988 issue of Consumer Reports picked USAA as one of the best three companies in the nation in terms of service. The other two were much smaller firms [20]. This was the 4th such judgment by Consumer Reports over the past 20 years [16, 17, 18, 19]. USAA had the best record in the state for both homeowners and private auto insurance in terms of the fewest number of complaints per one thousand policyholders [14]. The Arizona Insurance Department had the same findings for USAA personal lines insurance [23]. In an industry categorized as a &amp;quot;service Industry&amp;quot;, USAA is clearly one of the national leaders due to the leadership of Robert McDermott. In its January 21, 1985 issue, Business Week selected 50 leaders who were representative of the new corporate elite. Of the 9 selected in the &amp;quot;service Gurus&amp;quot; category, McDermott was the only CEO of an insurance firm selected [13]. In the July 25, 1988, Forbes, McDermott said in an interview with Toni Mack that , &amp;quot;if you put service number one, everything else will follow,&amp;quot; and so it has [8]. Most recently USAA was among 101 companies singled out in the 1989 book The Service Edge by Ron Zemke with Dick Schaaf [27]. In his foreword to the book, Tom Peters said that the 101 companies described will hopefully have &amp;quot;good management at the top, and throughout any firm, to appreciate just what an unstinting dedication to service can amount to - and to challenge each and every one of us about making such a commitment in our own outfits&amp;quot; [27]. It is clear that providing great service to its own members, USAA has caught national attention as well. McDermott&amp;apos;s leadership qualities, within and outside the insurance industry, and his concern for community and country were also reflected in a Best of Business Quarterly interview that appeared in the journal&amp;apos;s Spring 1987 issue [5]. Fiscal Management Providing great service has not been done without consideration of the bottom line. USAA has consistently maintained the lowest cost/expense ratio in the insurance industry and has paid dividends to members every year. In the aftermath of the insurance revolt in California in the November 1988 election, consumer advocate Ralph Nader testified before the House Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Competitiveness Subcommittee on December 6, 1988.Although Nader excoriated the insurance industry, he had positive testimony for USAA. He stated:

&amp;lt;number&amp;gt;

5th world harvardclub_dec5

1.
• We’re publishing less scientific
articles relative to the rest of the
world.
• Our share of global patenting is
shrinking.
• Our share of global R&D is
shrinking.
• We have become net importers
of high tech products.

3.
Efficiency of U.S. Educational System in Producing
Technical Talent is Poor: Higher Ed
• U.S. ranks 80th
out of 92 countries in the fraction of its
college students who obtain bachelors degrees in the
natural sciences and engineering.
• U.S. also ranks 80th
out of 92 countries in the fraction of
its college students who obtain bachelors degrees in
engineering.
“We educate many more people than other nations,
but only a small fraction of those choose to major
in science and engineering.”
Data from which these calculations were made: National Science Board. 2004. Science and
Engineering Indicators 2004. Two volumes.Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation (volume 1,
NSB 04-1; volume 2, NSB 04-1A). Appendix Table 2-33. In Mayo 2005, National Academies.

15.
Efficiency of U.S. Educational System in
Producing Technical Talent is Poor: K-12
• International (TIMSS) test scores show U.S. 4th
graders to
be 12th
in the world in math; 6th
in the world in science
• International (TIMSS) test scores show U.S. 8th
graders to
be 14th
in the world in math; 9th
in the world in science
• International (PISA) test scores show U.S. 12th graders to
be 24th in the world in math; 22nd in the world in science
“The longer we stay in the educational system, the worse
off we are with respect to our peers…”
Data from National Center for Education Statistics . In Mayo 2005, National Academies.
(http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/PISA2003Highlights.asp and http://nces.ed.gov/timss/Results03.asp)

19.
College Graduates by Age 24
Young People From
High Income Families
48%
Young People From
Low Income Families
7%
Source: Tom Mortenson, Research Seminar on Public Policy Analysis of
Opportunity for Post Secondary, 1997 in Latino Health Care Project,
Report at Casey Journalism School for Children and Families

22.
Ray Kurzweil
An analysis of the history of technology
shows that technological change is
exponential, contrary to the common-sense
"intuitive linear" view. “So we won't
experience 100 years of progress in the
21st century -- it will be more like 20,000
years of progress (at today's rate).”

23.
http://www.arraycomm.com/pcct/coopers_law.htm
Moore’s Law - Shrink
volume by 1011
increase
Power by 1011
Martin Cooper’s Law -
the no. of
conversations (voice
and data) conducted
over a given area, in all
of the useful radio
spectrum has doubled
every 21/2 years for the
last 105 years since
Marconi, 1895.
Cooper’s Law
1st
Gen  Mainframe
2nd
Gen Mini
3rd
Gen PC
4th
Gen Sys on Chip

33.
Richard E. Smalley, Robert Curl
and Harold Kroto won 1996 Nobel
Prize in Chemistry for the discovery
of a structure of carbon atoms
known as a “buckyball”.
http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/PR_display.asp?prID=04-85

34.
http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/PR_display.asp?prID=04-85
Pins can be added to a
buckball to form an X, Y, Z
coordinate system to DNA—a
symmetry between fullerenes
and DNA.

58.
Player is Incident
Commander or subordinate
crisis responder. Responds
to events with choices that
should mirror Department of
Justice NICS doctrine.
• Tactical Map set in player’s
home county
• ICS “hints” throughout
gameplay
• Coordination and
communication required for
success
• Full-scale training is
unaffordable for small
jurisdictions*
• Permits widespread
distribution to many users*
*88% of all jurisdictions are
considered to be small.
Incident Commander
Recommendation: Emphasize human-to-
human computer mediated
communication, interaction and learning.

59.
Virtual U models the attitudes and
behaviors of the academic
community in five major areas of
higher education anagement:
• Spending and income decisions
such as operating budget, new
hires, incoming donations, and
management of the endowment;
• Faculty, course, and student
scheduling issues;
• Admissions standards, university
prestige, and student enrollment;
• Student housing, classrooms, and
all other facilities; and
• Performance indicators.
Enlight Software, the Jackson Hole Higher Education Group, and the Institute for
Research on Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania (data), with support
from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Spencer Foundation. www.virtual-u.org

60.
food-force.com
Produced by the
United Nations'
World Food
Programme, Kids join
a team of emergency
aid workers to save
the fictitious island of
Sheylan from
starvation caused by
drought and civil
war.
The team goes on six
missions to help save
the island. The
additional missions
cleverly use games to
demonstrate how
emergency aid
teams acquire food,
make food packs,
deliver food and
establish long-term
food supplies.

69.
Through mixing
realities, research is
expanding the potential
of embedded training
in the field and in
battle labs to provide
integrated training
anytime, anywhere.
Advancements are
being transferred
across industries
from business
prototypes to
hospitality training.
Integrated research in
tracking, registration,
rendering, display, and
scenario delivery are
expanding the
possibilities of
CONSTRUCTIVE
simulation as well as
after action review, and
command and control
visualizations.

74.
transitioning from a manufacturing to
an innovation economy
http://mit.edu/cre/research/ncc/proceedings/ncc-casestudies.pdf

75.
Today, Finland’s progressive strategy includes:
multi-disciplinary and multi-industry collaboration to
integrate nano science-, bio science-, information
science- and cognitive science-based research and
development (Tieke, 2005, p.9); converging design,
art and science in the contexts of education and
human development (Tahkokallio and Koivusilta,
2004, p.1); national R&D policy and urban-rural
development establishing connected regional
centers of innovation; partnering with global high
tech markets and industries (Embassy of
Switzerland, Beijing, 2005, p.12); and leading the
world in “Public-Private Partnership” (with efforts
dating back to the year of their independence, 1917)
(Tieke, 2005, p.12-15).

86.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
High school
or less
Community
college/technical
College
degree or beyond
How Much Education do You Want?
White
African American
Latino
Other
How much education?
A. Gold, IC2
Institute, UT Austin, Forthcoming

109.
GAME TEAMS
Games have captured
millennials imagination
and time.
Leverage the attention
economy of games to
develop next generation
workforce.
We need to pierce the
veil of play and support
game-based
constructivist learning.
Transdisciplinarity is
the common
denominator.
Games NANO BIO INFO NEURO
Game Builder = System Builder
Educational Pull